The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live & Why They Matter

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The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live & Why They Matter

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 320 ratings · 52 reviews

There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed, and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers, and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field.

From the tallest to the smallest, trees inspire wonder in all of us, and in The Tree, Colin Tudge travels...more

Hardcover, 480 pages

Published October 3rd 2006 by Crown (first published 2005)

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Jan 16, 2009 Bryn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mixing history, biology, botany, natural history, philosophy and politics, this is quite some read! It is intensely written, laden with facts and ideas, and is best consumed slowly as there's a great deal to get to grips with. It rewards patience however, and is one of the best things I've read in a while. Thoroughly recomended, if you like books you can really get your teeth into.

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Mar 26, 2008 Erica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nature-is-my-religion

Well, the author is extraordinarily knowledgeable and passionate about trees and I learned a great deal while reading this book. Unfortunately, he's overly chatty in a way that feels like he presumes much about our relationship, mainly that the reader will find him all sorts of witty and wonderful. Ugh. It could be a personality conflict-I love Nicholas Basbanes and he tends to do the same thing, though I don't find myself considering him a twit. At any rate, the short version: lots of interesti...more

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Mar 05, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, trees

I ran out of time with this one -- due back to the library before I am doing it justice. I'll probably take it out again at some point. The writing style is a bit dense and there aren't a lot of pictures (I do find that helpful in books about nature). However, what is there is quite a lot.

4 sections:
1. What is a tree? A good intro/overview. I read this
2. All the trees in the world -- broken into groups: conifers, magnolias, monocots, broadleaves, rose-like eudictots, daisy-like eudicots. Clearl...more I ran out of time with this one -- due back to the library before I am doing it justice. I'll probably take it out again at some point. The writing style is a bit dense and there aren't a lot of pictures (I do find that helpful in books about nature). However, what is there is quite a lot.

4 sections:
1. What is a tree? A good intro/overview. I read this
2. All the trees in the world -- broken into groups: conifers, magnolias, monocots, broadleaves, rose-like eudictots, daisy-like eudicots. Clearly a lot that I don't know in this section -- but I skipped it for now.
3. The life of trees. (How trees live; which trees live where and why; the social life of trees: war or peace?)
4. Trees and us (the future with trees).

"Trees are good competitors. But they are also among the world's most exemplary cooperators, forming a host of mutualistic relationships for one purpose or another with an enormous variety of different creatures, from the bacteria and fungi that help them to feed to the many, many different kinds of animals that help them with different stages of their reproduction. Trees do not seem to be aware, as dogs and monkeys are aware. They do not have brains. But they are sentient in their way; they gauge what's going on as much as they need to, and they conduct their affairs as adroitly as any military strategist. Why be "aware" when you can simulate all that awareness brings? They surely don't think, as animals do. But they orchestrate their fellow creatures nonetheless. A forest is a forest because it has trees in it, not because it may have sloths and toucans or squirrels or chimpanzees. The trees are the prime players and the animals are the dependents." p. xv

"But identification can be difficult for all kinds of reasons -- even identification of tress, which are big and conspicuous, and which do not run away. We have already seen the practical problem posed by some willows: that both leaves and flowers may be needed for identification but the two may not be present at the same time. Yet whatever problems may confront us in temperate climes, we can be sure that the tropics will pose far worse. In tropical forests, flowers, which are the principal guide to botanical identification, are usually absent. In season rain forests, many trees gear their flowering to the rains, so flowering is to some extent predictable. But much rain forest (as in much of Amazonia) is nonseasonal, and trees may flower at any time. ....
The leaves may not be too helpful either, at least when viewed from the ground. ... The forest floor may be moist, but the topmost leaves of the canopy are far above it, and are exposed to the fiercest sun.... So the uppermost leaves must resist dessication. Yet from time to time, and in due season every day, they must also endure tremendous downpours. Leaves that can cope with such contrasts tend to be thick and leathery (to resist drought), oval in shape, and have a projection at the end like a gargoyle, known as a "drip tip," to shoot off surplus rain. Many hundreds of trees from dozens of only distantly related families have leaves of this general type.... Often, in short, you have nothing to look at but bark. The trunks of tropical trees are sometimes highly characteristic, deeply furrowed or twisted like macrame, but in most species the bark is simply smooth and gray, dappled with lichen and moss." p.24-25
(less)

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Dec 29, 2012 Tassos rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Tassos by: Jimmy Richter

Shelves: science

Another recommendation from a friend from far far away. A true tree lover. And it seems that I receive very good recommendations lately.

The book starts by explaining some basic things about what trees are, how they evolved to be what they are and how they are categorised into species, families and so on. Then there is an extensive part of the book talking about all the different categories of trees (that I more or less skipped) in order to go to the most interesting part of the book: Trees' rela...more

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Mar 11, 2010 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, sylva

Who doesn't like trees? Despite that popularity, it is easy to have a rather lopsided understanding of why they matter. Global warming is constantly in the news, so it is commonly known that trees sequester carbon, and so have a beneficial cooling effect on the earth. We know that the roots of trees hold soil in place, and that trees can absorb an enormous quantity of water. So they have a moderating effect on variations of weather. But how many people can identify all the trees found in a local...more Who doesn't like trees? Despite that popularity, it is easy to have a rather lopsided understanding of why they matter. Global warming is constantly in the news, so it is commonly known that trees sequester carbon, and so have a beneficial cooling effect on the earth. We know that the roots of trees hold soil in place, and that trees can absorb an enormous quantity of water. So they have a moderating effect on variations of weather. But how many people can identify all the trees found in a local park?

That's a big change from the past, when so many trades involved trees and their by-products that lots of people could identify many species and describe their best uses. Colin Tudge's book describes many uses of individual species of trees, and also explains their biology and natural history, their cultivation and their cultural significance. Along the way we get an armchair tour through anatomy, genetics, taxonomy, ecology, forestry practices, economy and nearly everything else having to do with trees.

He answers some questions that some people may not have thought to ask. For example, why are there relatively few species of trees in a northern forest, especially when compared to the variation found in the tropics? (Greater tropical variation in species happens in all other kingdoms, too.) But while you may not ask it in that form, you may have looked at a piece of furniture at Ikea and wondered what on earth it was made of, assuming not of plastic. There are more kinds of trees than most of us can possibly imagine, and now they're all being used for one thing or another. The products are shipped all over the place.

The book is organized into four sections, although the fourth is really an epilogue. The first describes what separates trees from other plants-so taxonomy-and their physiology and evolution. The second section is a one-hundred-forty-page-tour- de-force description of all the trees left in the world, divided up by their taxonomies. In the third section, Tudge describe ecology and reproduction, including the many ways that people have inadvertently or purposefully screwed that up for trees, usually by transporting competitors or pests into an ecological system. In the fourth section, Tudge demonstrates two things: first, that trees interact deeply with political and economic outcomes, and second, that he is happy to oversimplify and generalize such issues to arrive at some weirdly new-age happy talk. For example,

"I don't believe the world can get significantly better if we leave politics to career politicians. That is not what democracy means. I also nurse the conceit (for which there is abundant evidence) that human beings are basically good...It seems to follow that if only democracy can be made to work-if the will of humanity as a whole can prevail-then the world could be a far better place: that it could, after all, come through these next few difficult decades...

And so he joins Einstein in demonstrating that some scientists shouldn't quit their day jobs to seek elected office. Despite that, the book is terrific, and even the fourth section has lots of interesting, if utopian, perspectives. Read it as you long for spring!(less)

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Apr 29, 2012 Pollyanna Darling rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Only truly passionate botanists and foresters will love the majority of this book, which is an in depth discussion of the characteristics of the many species of trees that bless our planet. HOWEVER, the last two sections of the book: The Life of Trees and Trees and Us, should be compulsory reading for all humans. Colin weaves a beautiful and disturbing picture of the future of the planet, should we allow our forests and wild trees to be destroyed. He also presents a clear vision of the world we...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Michal Wigal added it · review of another edition

Shelves: science

The first 100 pages contain everything you've ever wanted to know about trees. The next 200 pages contain everything you've never wanted to know about trees. The final 100 pages are a pretty informative look at how humans use trees and the role they can play in climate change.

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Aug 21, 2012 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, science, best-reads-of-2012

My current writing obsession is trees, which, of course, requires that I read about trees. I found Colin Tudge's compendium to be comprehensive & utterly fascinating (I admit to nodding off a bit while reading the more technical chapters in which he surveys trees as botanically classified into order, family, & genus--at the same time I was intrigued by many unexpected relationships among both herbaceous & woody species). Although Tudge doesn't mention Canadian tree ecologist Diana Be...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Adam Kranz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: appleton-public-library, botany, environmental-history, non-fiction, science, sustainable-agriculture, the-problem-of-civilization, british-naturalists-scientists

Colin Tudge attracted my attention for having written several books about diverse subjects I am fascinated by, not the least of which is trees. In 'The Tree,' Tudge lives up to that promise, proving himself a very likable man who thinks about the world in many ways similarly to the way I do. This is in general a boon, but can be a downfall.

The book has no real goal, no thesis, no object. It is a well-organized series of writings about the trees of the world, including explanations of many facet...more Colin Tudge attracted my attention for having written several books about diverse subjects I am fascinated by, not the least of which is trees. In 'The Tree,' Tudge lives up to that promise, proving himself a very likable man who thinks about the world in many ways similarly to the way I do. This is in general a boon, but can be a downfall.

The book has no real goal, no thesis, no object. It is a well-organized series of writings about the trees of the world, including explanations of many facets of what it means to be a tree, portraits of individual trees, and a broad survey of all the tree phyla in the modern world. This middle section seems to have been largely a mistake. The rest of the book proceeds in narrative form through a number of very interesting aspects of the ecology, physiology, evolution, and human relevance of trees. The phylogeny, however, stifles the narrative voice and forces boring listing. I didn't read it, suffice it to say, so I perhaps shouldn't knock it too much. But it reminded me in format much of The Kingdom Fungi, which fell prey to the same impulse.

The impulse is noble and I share it: rather than discuss the variety of trees in the world in a series of random groupings, it should be done phylogenetically, to emphasize the relationships among trees. And if you're going about it phylogenetically, you might as well include all the major phyla of trees . . . But how can you provide anything very interesting about all of them, and present all this knowledge in a meaningful way? The answer seems to be that you can't, really. This kind of knowledge, broad but particular, of the whole group of things we call "trees," must be earned through a lifetime of observation, a lifetime of meeting trees. It can't be condensed and transferred in even 150 pages. And it most certainly can't be done without pictures! This is perhaps what killed the middle of the book - there are no pictures to give the reader a taste of the phyla described.

The rest of the book, which I read entirely, was great, as I've said. Tudge includes a lot of details, but condenses them into a form that is intuitive and dense with information without becoming slow to read. Much that could have been included was left out - a more in-depth look at the relationship between trees and humans in history, a la A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization, or more detailed coverage of tree ecology, focusing on things like mycorrhizae, or more adequate coverage of tree physiology, including some nice diagrams, like Botany for Gardeners. I could think of dozens of others. The book is very long and quite valuable as it is, but such topics would have better suited Tudge's style (and, I think, the style of books other than field guides and coffee table books in general) than what he chose to do in the middle section of the book.

I very much appreciate the fact that Tudge chose to close the book with a serious look at the relationship between the social structure of our civilization and the ecological health of the planet, principally seen, in this, from the point of view of trees. While the fact that the treatment of the issue is necessarily superficial, it acknowledges there is a very big problem in the world of trees, and that it is rooted in economics and culture. Tudge emphasizes, quite astutely, that if that problem can be 'solved,' then many other problems will be solved along with it - exploitation of workers, the indigenous, and poor nations; the food issue; the energy issue; the decline of coherent local communities; etc. It would have been easy for Tudge (or his editors) to say 'let this be a happy book about trees; don't bring up all those controversial bad things - save that for another book.' That he did not indicates some extra goodness in his soil [typo?].(less)

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Nov 27, 2010 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Finacial Times described this book as a love letter to trees and its a statement that I definitly agree with. Colin Tudge describes trees from almost every angle that you can look or think about trees.

The book takes you through the evolution of trees to the all the various species that now exist on the planet and then to how they live and communicat with eachother and the enviroment and then to what they mean to us the human race

Every chapter was facinating epecially the chapter on "The life...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Nicholas Whyte rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was frankly disappointed. The biggest section of the book, 150 pages of the 400, is a gazetteer of tree genera and families; it would actually have been better presented as an alphabetical encyclopedia - the narrative style doesn't really suit this sort of information (at least, not the way Tudge writes). The final section starts by insisting that humanity must return to an agrarian existence, though without any realistic agenda as to how this might happen (or even convincing reasoning as to w...more

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Oct 11, 2007 Jeff Van Campen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: obsessed lovers of trees

Shelves: science

This is a fairly comprehensive overview of the trees of the world and trees in the world. It is divided into four sections.

The first is a general introduction to trees, including some quick schooling on the biology and evolution of trees.

The second section is a whirlwind -- but still fairly lengthy -- tour of the all the plant families that contain trees. While all families are covered, the focus on specific trees within those families. Tudge's choices here are idiosyncratic, and we are treated...more

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Mar 04, 2010 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: natural history enthusiasts and pretty much anyone who likes trees

Shelves: botany, environment, nature-writing, biology, world, post-uni, popular-science, library

An incredibly fascinating book about trees but could also be treated as a good intro to botany for the layperson (it lays the groundwork first for understanding plants before studying the woody species). I learnt how plants evolved, how they work, how they communicate, how they affect and are affected by their environment; and how incredibly diverse trees are. That last bit is possibly the books only downfall: the mid-section is an inventory of all the major genuses of tree in the world. Some pa...more

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Aug 15, 2011 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book does not quite live up to the title, being largely a survey of the classification system with some occasional pieces of interesting information thrown in. I was expecting to have some more in detail explanation of how trees work from the inside. But perhaps that would not be popular science. It did not help that I read the book on the Kindle which is not very good for illustrations and tables.

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May 01, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book and all it taught me about trees. Very fascinating subject to learn about. Not as gripping as a novel so it took me a while to get through but I really enjoyed reading it and learning about the evolution of trees, the importance of trees, medicinal properties of trees, and different types of trees all over the world.

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Jan 28, 2010 Kenzo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked the idea of this book. The writing was filled with the author's clear passion for his subject matter, which also made the book enjoyable. However, and this may seem a bizarre criticism, but I would have loved more pictures to go with the text. I'm sure I have seen many of the trees mentioned, but could not put mental images of them with the descriptions in the text. The pictures would have brought back memories of when and where I had seen them, and brought the text to life. As it was, I...more

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May 18, 2008 Meaghan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: nature enthusiasts

I had a hard time with this book because the author meticulously describes the science behind trees, assuming at some points that the reader has no familiarity with the subject. However, over all he expects his readers to be as enthusiastic about the minute details as he is. His descriptions failed to capture my interest, but his overall arguments (especially about climate change and the cultural history of trees) were food for thought that made it worth reading. I guess it filled in some holes...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Michael A. rated it 5 of 5 stars

The splendid introduction alone is worth the price of the book!

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Jul 06, 2011 Gregor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nature-biology

Everyone who loves nature will find this book fascinating.

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Aug 31, 2012 Sherri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's a little technical, but it's fascinating!

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May 28, 2012 Julian rated it 4 of 5 stars

trying to learn this stuff too.

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Jan 14, 2013 Ami rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, didn-t-finish

Got about a hundred pages in, but it just wasn't holding my attention. The science of trees, as written by Tudge at least, just isn't all that interesting.

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Feb 21, 2009 Hallucigenia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm reading this between other books - it's interesting, but not so rivetting that it is a WOW! book, that has to be read whatever else is going on. Some interesting information, giving me some idea of the natural history of trees, and how trees are important in nature and to Man. I'd like to see a few more diagrams - eg a reminder of the different structures inside trees so that when I pick it up again I can refer back when I come across a term again.

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Sep 28, 2012 Larry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A superb read, really 3 books in one.
1. A natural history of trees, how they grow, live and reproduce etc.
2 A catalog of the world's species and their relation to other plants (it came as a revelation to find that Teak is relatee to garden mint!)
3 A social and ecological treatise on why trees are important and how we need them to keep our planet, and us, alive!

If you love trees you will want this on your shelf!

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Jul 01, 2007 Sam rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's not as good as the cover made it out to be, and it's certainly not a natural history classic, but it's a fun, well-written overview. Part of the problem, I think, is that the task that Tudge set out for himself in surveying all the world's trees is so vast that either the book needed to be much longer, or the project needed to be toned down considerably. There's just not enough detail for this to be really excellent.

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Apr 08, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Thos interested in trees or nature, enviromentalists

Shelves: my-books-read

I was hoping for a few more pictures. This book is long, so I wasn't able to read all of it, before it was due at the library. I plan on trying to read it again some other time. I learned a lot about trees and have a new appreciation for them and the world around me. It left me feeling refreshed and wanting to go on a nature walk with my kids. Great read if you want to learn about trees!

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May 17, 2013 Justin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent book for anybody! Colin Tudge is an elegant writer and brings life to this overlooked topic. I would recommend this to anyone, whether they currently have an interest in trees and nature or not. I would definitely call this a must read.

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Mar 13, 2010 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A reader's quote on my copy of this book calls it 'a love-letter to trees'. I think this perfectly sums up this nice little chronicle of how trees live and why they matter. The book is both an encyclopedia of the stunning beauty and diversity of trees, and also a manifesto for a more sustainable future based around using trees with reverence and care for our human needs.

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Jul 01, 2012 Charlotte rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

A really good book, opens your eyes to the world of trees. A great exploration to all types of trees, with a some description to eachs of the families of trees. Sometimes your head does get confused throughout the book, but all techincal terms are explained. Colin Tudge is a great writer and thanks to him I now have a better understanding of the world of trees.

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Dec 23, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fav-shelf

Love you.

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About Colin Tudge

Colin Tudge was educated at Dulwich College, 1954-61; and read zoology at Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1962-65.

Ever since then he has earned a living by spasmodic broadcasting and a lot of writing—mainly books these days, but with occasional articles. He has a special interest in natural history in general, evolution and genetics, food and agriculture, and spends a great deal of time on philosophy (esp...more

More about Colin Tudge...

Books by Colin Tudge

The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor

The Bird: A Natural History of Who Birds Are, Where They Came From & How They Live

The Variety of Life: A Survey and a Celebration of All the Creatures that Have Ever Lived

Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers: How Agriculture Really Began

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