Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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Ebook466 pages5 hours
Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History
By Diana Wells and Heather Lovett
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
The author of 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names now explores our deep-rooted relationship with trees in this beautifully illustrated book.
In Lives of Trees, gardening author Diana Wells reminds us of just how innately bound we are to trees. For as long as humans walked the earth, we have depended on them for food, shade, shelter, and fuel—not to mention furniture, musical instruments, medicine, utensils, and more.
Investigating the names and meanings of trees, Wells also uncovers their fascinating legends and lore: At one time, a worm found in a hazelnut meant ill fortune; Rowan trees were planted in churchyards to prevent the dead from rising from their graves; Greek arrows were soaked in deadly yew; and Shakespeare’s witches in Macbeth used “Gall of goat and slips of yew” to make their lethal brew. One bristlecone pine, at about forty-seven hundred years old, is thought to be the oldest living plant on earth. All this and more can be found in the beautifully illustrated pages (themselves born of birch bark!) of Lives of Trees.
In Lives of Trees, gardening author Diana Wells reminds us of just how innately bound we are to trees. For as long as humans walked the earth, we have depended on them for food, shade, shelter, and fuel—not to mention furniture, musical instruments, medicine, utensils, and more.
Investigating the names and meanings of trees, Wells also uncovers their fascinating legends and lore: At one time, a worm found in a hazelnut meant ill fortune; Rowan trees were planted in churchyards to prevent the dead from rising from their graves; Greek arrows were soaked in deadly yew; and Shakespeare’s witches in Macbeth used “Gall of goat and slips of yew” to make their lethal brew. One bristlecone pine, at about forty-seven hundred years old, is thought to be the oldest living plant on earth. All this and more can be found in the beautifully illustrated pages (themselves born of birch bark!) of Lives of Trees.
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Author
Diana Wells
Diana Wells is the author of 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names and 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names, has written for Friends Journal, and is contributing editor of the journal Greenprints. Born in Jerusalem, she has lived in England and Italy and holds an honors degree in history from Oxford University. She now lives with her husband on a farm in Pennsylvania.
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Reviews for Lives of the Trees
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed this reference book and leave it on my coffee/tea table so I can occassionally re-read about a particular tree. The book reveals more the myth and story behind various trees versus an indepth botanical study which makes it a light and fun read one can pick and put down at random.