Description
On virtually all land and in forests across the globe, trees stand like sentinels or with less familiar contours, and play a significant role in the natural world. In Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis, an environmental historian, has singled out and profiled a dozen species. As a scientist, he approaches his subject with knowledge, affection, and reverence, at times giving an almost anthropomorphic appreciation of a tree’s characteristics and idiosyncrasies.
Readers unfamiliar with the geographic spread and products of the trees will respect the demand for the Congo basin ebony in so many products, favoring particularly the manufacture of guitars, and no less, the immense baobabs like a chain of beacons across the south Asian landscape, battered by elephants seeking the nutrition inside the hard exterior. The mysteries embedded in amber are intriguing, some even finding a path to creative jewelry. In North America, the top leaves of the Coast Redwood struggle for better irrigation as water from the soil way below strives to reach them. Each species boasts multiple stories.
The book is enjoyable as well as instructive. Lewis revels in unexpected factoids as well as basic details, some come with a ‘believe it or not’ humor, though no one can question the veracity.
