Trees of life / Max Adams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Adams, Max, 1961- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Trees.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource 273 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey ; Oxford, England : Princeton University Press, [2021]

Summary:

An informative, richly illustrated book about eighty of the world’s most important and remarkable treesOur planet is home to some three trillion trees—roughly four hundred for every person on Earth. In Trees of Life, Max Adams selects, from sixty thousand extant species, eighty remarkable trees with which to celebrate the richness of humanity’s relationship with trees, woods, and forests.In a sequence of informative and beautifully illustrated portraits, divided between six thematic sections, Adams investigates the trees that human cultures have found most useful across the world and ages: trees that yield timber and other materials of immense practical value, trees that bear edible fruits and nuts, trees that deliver special culinary ingredients and traditions, and trees that give us dyes, essences, and medicines. In a section titled “Supertrees,” Adams considers trees that have played a pivotal role in maintaining natural and social communities, while a final section, “Trees for the Planet,” looks at a group of trees so valuable to humanity that they must be protected at all costs from loss.From the apple to the oak, the logwood to the breadfruit, and the paper mulberry to the Dahurian larch, these are trees that offer not merely shelter, timber, and fuel but also drugs, foods, and fibers. Trees of Life presents a plethora of fascinating stories about them.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Cork, Rubber, Mulberry: a cornucopia

Chapter 2 Dragon’s Blood and Jesuit’s Bark: trees for dyes, perfumes and medicine

Chapter 3 From Apple to Walnut: the fruit and nut bearers

Chapter 4 Sugar and Spice: a cook’s bounty

Chapter 5 Supertrees

Chapter 6 Trees for the planet

Glossary

Endnotes

Further reading

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-691-21861-7

OCLC:

1239985342