An authoritative field guide to more than 450 species of wild mushrooms from around the world, "Mushrooms" shows the life cycle and features of a mushroom, what supplies are needed for mushroom foraging, and how to take a spore deposit.

A photographic field guide forms the heart of the book, providing information on size, range, and habitat; clear images and illustrations of specimens; and information on what's poisonous and what's edible -- making this the ultimate guide to mushrooms.

A unique mix of art and science, this fresh and visually stunning survey celebrates the extraordinary beauty and diversity of the world's most controversial plant: Cannabis sativa. Cutting-edge scanning electron microscope images, combined with light micrographs and X-rays, bring this captivating plant vividly to life. Meticulously photographed over the course of three years, the 140 color images are arranged by germination, stem, leaf, male flower, female flower, and roots, accompanied by explanations of what the viewer is seeing. The cannabis plant has had a complicated relationship with humans through the ages, and each image was selected with this in mind, highlighting unique and frequently bizarre features. This unusual photographic collection reveals the microscopic features of the marijuana plant as never before seen in one volume.

What would Thanksgiving be without pecan pie? New Orleans without pecan pralines? Southern cooks would have to hang up their aprons without America's native nut, whose popularity has spread far beyond the tree's natural home. But as familiar as the pecan is, most people don't know the fascinating story of how native pecan trees fed Americans for thousands of years until the nut was "improved" a little more than a century ago-and why that rapid domestication actually threatens the pecan's long-term future. In The Pecan, acclaimed writer and historian James McWilliams explores the history of America's most important commercial nut. He describes how essential the pecan was for Native Americans-by some calculations, an average pecan harvest had the food value of nearly 150,000 bison. McWilliams explains that, because of its natural edibility, abundance, and ease of harvesting, the pecan was left in its natural state longer than any other commercial fruit or nut crop in America. Yet once the process of "improvement" began, it took less than a century for the pecan to be almost totally domesticated. Today, more than 300 million pounds of pecans are produced every year in the United States-and as much as half of that total might be exported to China, which has fallen in love with America's native nut. McWilliams also warns that, as ubiquitous as the pecan has become, it is vulnerable to a "perfect storm" of economic threats and ecological disasters that could wipe it out within a generation. This lively history suggests why the pecan deserves to be recognized as a true American heirloom.

A thoughtfully researched visual exploration of our connections to nature, and why and how plants and green spaces make us happy. When illustrator Ishita Jain relocated to the visually overwhelming and concrete-filled New York City from New Delhi, India, she found solace in its parks and gardens, and started thinking about how important green spaces are in big cities to its residents' sense of escape and peace. In Searching for Sunshine, Jain follows her curiosity and creativity to provide a vibrant compilation of visual essays and interviews centered around the simple yet compelling question of "Why do plants make us happy?" Whether living in a setting that is urban, rural, or somewhere in between, we can all find solace in the beautifully rendered pages and stories gathered here. Featuring over a dozen conversations with experts and plant-lovers alike, including scientists at the New York Botanical Gardens, groundskeepers at the famed Green-Wood Cemetery, shoppers at the beloved Union Square Greenmarket, a director of NYC Parklands, florists, and more, Jain's exploration of plants in New York City demonstrates how nature is vital to all experiences of our lives.

From one of our greatest science writers, this biography of a beech-and-bluebell wood through diverse moods and changing seasons combines stunning natural history with the ancient history of the countryside to tell the full story of the British landscape. Guided by his abiding love of nature and a lifetime of scientific expertise, Richard Fortey takes us on a journey through ecosystems and time. The Wood for the Trees is the story of humankind meeting nature, an homage to the mesmerising interactions between flora, fauna and fungi. Discover the lives of animals and plants; the passage of seasons; visits by fellow enthusiasts; the play of light between branches; the influence of geology; and how woodland has shaped history, architecture, and industry. On every page Fortey shows how an intimate study of one small wood can reveal so much about the natural world, and demonstrates his relish for the incomparable pleasures of discovery.

This title brings together a collection of indigenous shrubs - not only established favourites but also many lesser-known species that will amaze the reader with their beauty and versatility. The title covers more than 100 species of indigenous shrubs in detail, with descriptive text and more than 200 full-colour photographs for easy identification. Detailed species accounts include a description of the plant, advice on how to propagate it from seed or cuttings and how to care for it in the garden. The author also shares fascinating snippets of information on the traditional uses of each plant and gives down-to-earth advice on how to use the plant in the garden to achieve the best effect. A range of icons offers an easy overview of the plant's size and shape, its cultivation requirements, uses, flower colour, flowering time and other special features. The introductory section includes advice on planning a garden, how to plant and care for shrubs, how to propagate shrubs form seed and cuttings as well as hints on gardening for birds and butterflies.

Our penchant for keeping house plants is an ancient practice dating back to the Pharaohs. House Plants explores the stories behind the plants we bring home and how they were transformed from wild plants into members of our households. A billion-dollar global industry, house plants provide an interaction with nature, and contribute to our health, happiness and wellbeing. They also support their own miniature ecosystems and are part of the home biome. Featuring many superb illustrations, House Plants explores both their botanical history and cultural impact, from song (Gracie Fields's Biggest Aspidistra in the World), literature (Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying) and cinema (Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors) to fashion, technology, contemporary design, and painting.

This comprehensive guide describes the 582 species of wild orchids that occur in NSW and the ACT. This region covers the richest area for wild orchids in Australia and includes over 500 species of seasonal ground orchids and 62 species of evergreen tree and rock orchids. Orchids found in this region include the tallest, heaviest, smallest flowered, most numerous flowered and most bizarre orchids in Australia, including elusive underground species. Guide to Native Orchids of NSW and ACT describes each species, enabling their identification in the field, and includes over 600 photographs of wild orchids in their natural habitat and distribution maps for almost all species. Featuring orchids with a dazzling array of colour and form, this is the essential guide for all orchid enthusiasts. Features Covers all of the wild orchids of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (as at February 2021). Includes 65 species of distinctive but as yet undescribed orchids that occur in the region. Includes photographs of almost all species of wild orchids occurring in the region, including several species never illustrated before. Most comprehensive field guide for orchids of the region ever produced.

Trees, Fruits and Flowers of the Bible is an engaging and informative study of all the most important trees, fruits and flowers mentioned in the Bible, identifying the specific species and explaining the message or symbolism behind the texts. The Prologue sets the scene by giving a simple description of the topography and climate of Israel, so that readers - wherever they are - may get a sense of what the place is like. The following sections of the book cover the flora in detail. A wide range of fruits, herbs, nuts, flowers and trees is covered from those of major symbolical significance such as the apple and the olive tree as well as those less prominent like the saffron crocus but which none the less give a fascinating picture of everyday life in the Holy Land.

A loving look at one of the world's most maligned, misunderstood, and fascinating insectsFamous foe of forestry professionals and despised spreader of Dutch elm disease, bark beetles have a bad reputation: the World's Worst Forest Pests. They chew through timber profits and kill healthy trees, turning forests from carbon sinks into carbon sources. But entomologist Jiri Hulcr sees more to these evil weevils than meets the eye, and offers you a closer look-literally. With science journalist Marc Abrahams, Hulcr offers a funny and informative introduction to these under-studied and underappreciated insects. This lively book turns cutting-edge research into an enjoyable tour through the miniature world of a charming critter. Vivid macrophotography captures every aspect of bark beetle life in stunning detail, from their dramatic family stories and curiously endearing looks to their mating strategies, and the secret fungus farms where they cultivate their own "ambrosia." You'll learn how much we don't know about bark beetles-and what that means for science's attempts to control them as climate change alters their habitats. Whether you're a scientist seeking up-to-date pest management strategies or you're just wondering if your backyard trees are at risk, this book will help you better understand the latest discoveries in beetle symbioses, molecular biology, and ecology. But be warned: at the end of this read you may be filled with affection for these adorable and astonishing beetles.

Brimming with engaging writing and stirring photography, Forest is an ode to the natural world and a celebration of the relationship between humans and trees.

Discover the secrets hidden within the Earth's lush woodlands and wild landscapes through photographs and stories about enchanting forests, magnificent trees, and people who live off the land.

Journeying across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, writer Matt Collins and photographer Roo Lewis capture the history, science, and human stories behind some of the most enchanting natural environments in the world.

• Explores the captivating history behind some of the world's most enchanting forests
• Organized by tree species, including the hearty pines in Spain's Tamada forest, the towering firs of the American West, the striking Birch groves of Germany's Elbe Valley, and beyond
• A blend of beautiful photographs, scientific trivia, and engaging human stories

Forest is an arresting tribute to the magnificence of the natural world and a wonderful gift for anyone who enjoys spending time in the outdoors.

Complete with gorgeous photography and engaging stories of people living in harmony with nature, readers will learn everything they dream of knowing about the forests of the world.

• A handsome gift for photographers, travel and outdoor enthusiasts, environmentalists, and science lovers
• A stunning way to learn about the world and the trees that surround us
• Great for readers who couldn't get enough of The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, Ancient Trees by Beth Moon, and Wise Trees by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel

Praise for The Green Planet (BBC One) 'David Attenborough's gobsmacking, awe-inspiring return' The Guardian 'The Green Planet reveals the secret lives of plants in the same way The Blue Planet opened our eyes to the oceans' New Scientist There's something new under the sun Plants live secret, unseen lives - hidden in their magical world and on their timescale. From the richest jungles to the harshest deserts, from the snowiest alpine forest to the remotest steaming swamp, Green Planet travels from one great habitat to the next, showing us that plants are as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as the animals on our planet. You will discover agents of death, who ruthlessly engulf their host plant, but also those that form deep and complex relationships with other species, such as the desert cacti who use nectar-loving bats to pollinate. Although plants are undoubtedly the stars of the show, a fascinating new light will be shed on the animals that interact with them. Using the latest technologies and showcasing over two decades of new discoveries, Green Planet reveals the strange and wonderful life of plants like never before - a life full of remarkable behaviour, emotional stories and surprising heroes.

The perfect season-led book to help you grow the best organic vegetables, fruit and herbs in a small urban space Many of us are trying to be more mindful in our approach to eating by choosing seasonal ingredients, and growing our own fruit and vegetables can benefit our health, the environment and even our wallet. Written over a year, City Veg is the candid account of an urban grower from her productive city plot - the size of two classic 1970s VW camper vans - with all the triumphs and minor woes that come with a small, suburban location. From planning and designing the garden in January to harvesting and using home-grown produce throughout the growing season, Cinead McTernan takes you on a personal journey that will entertain experienced growers and share plenty of practical information with newbie gardeners. With helpful growing advice, harvesting guides, tips and inspiration for garden projects, City Veg also includes quick and easy recipe ideas to help make the most of your bountiful yield.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. They are the things we step on without noticing and the largest organisms on Earth. They are symbols of inexplicable growth and excruciating misery. They are grouped with plants, but they behave more like animals. In their inscrutability, mushrooms are wondrous organisms. The mushroom is an ordinary object whose encounters with humans are usually limited to a couple of species prepackaged at the grocery store. This book offers mushrooms as much more than a pasta ingredient or trendy coffee alternative. It presents these objects as the firmament for life as we know it, enablers of mystical traditions, menders of minds lost to depression. But it acknowledges, too, that this firmament only exists because of death and rot. Rummaging through philosophical, literary, medical , ecological , and anthropological texts only serves to confirm what the average forager already knows: that mushrooms are to be regarded with a reverence deserving of only the most powerful entities: those who create and destroy, and thrive on both. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

It has comprehensive information on all the main species of tree and written in an easy to use and accessible style by an Arch-druidess.This book contains all the practical information you need to identify each tree as it changes throughout the year and includes:comprehensive physical and descriptions and botanical informationthe legends and myths surrounding each treethe healing powers and magical properties of the individual tree

Norfolk's Fragile Coast is a photographic journey from the unstable and spectacular cliffs of Sidestrand to the fossil rich beaches of East and West Runton, to bird reserves, marshes, expanses of sand, through the sailing and vacation areas of the Burnhams to the bleakness of Snettisham on the Wash. Claire Davies has captured this diversity, zooming in on the tiniest bird and out to the wild and spectacular expanses of coastline. This photographic project - mostly carried out through the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 - not only captures a constantly changing landscape with beautiful imagery - spectacular cliffs, fossil rich beaches, marshes, seascapes, birds, flora and fauna, parkland and countryside - but along with the accompanying narrative and diary notes, establishes an important record of a coast in all its variety at a moment of exceptional and unique timing.

Field Guide to Fynbos features over 1,000 species from the Cape Floristic Region – home to one of the world’s richest floras. This fully updated edition focuses on the most common and ‘showy’ plants.

An introduction unpacks the world of fynbos – including origins, diversity, climate and adaptations – and is followed by a photographic key and descriptions of the fynbos families. Species descriptions are accompanied by photographs, distribution maps, comparisons with similar species, and notes on traditional uses.

For botanists and amateurs alike, this will remain an indispensable guide to South Africa’s most renowned flora.

An exuberant tale of craftsmanship for nature lovers and rugged outdoor types everywhere Robert Penn cut down an ash tree to see how many things could be made from it. After all, ash is the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. Journeying from Wales across Europe and Ireland to the USA, Robert finds that the ancient skills and knowledge of the properties of ash, developed over millennia making wheels and arrows, furniture and baseball bats, are far from dead. The book chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood.

LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 2022 Reflecting on family, identity and nature, Belonging is a personal memoir about what it is to have and make a home. It is a love letter to nature, especially the northern landscapes of Scotland and the Scots pinewoods of Abernethy - home to standing dead trees known as snags, which support the overall health of the forest. Belonging is a book about how we are held in thrall to elements of our past. It speaks to the importance of attention and reflection, and will encourage us all to look and observe and ask questions of ourselves. Beautifully written and featuring Amanda Thomson's artwork and photography throughout, it explores how place, language and family shape us and make us who we are.

Addressing a generation of pot smokers living at a time when over half of America has legalized medical marijuana, this paperback edition of the successful Green delivers the planet's best bud photography in an accessible package and irresistible price point. Organized alphabetically, each of the 150 strains features a gorgeous bud shot plus a breezy description of the bud and its essential stats (lineage, flavor, high, and medicinal uses). Updated with more popular strains as well as new live plant and microscopic bud photography, this edition of Green will be the go-to strain guide for recreational and medicinal users alike.

A Compelling and Surprising Page-turner The history of the ubiquitous pine tree is wrapped up with the history of early America-and in the hands of a gifted storyteller becomes a compelling read, almost an adventure story.