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Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees
Have you ever looked at a tree? That may sound like a silly question, but there is so much more to notice about a tree than first meets the eye. Seeing Trees celebrates seldom seen but easily observable tree traits and invites you to watch trees with the same care and sensitivity that birdwatchers watch birds. Many people, for example, are surprised to learn that oaks and maples have flowers, much less flowers that are astonishingly beautiful when viewed up close.
Focusing on widely grown trees, this captivating book describes the rewards of careful and regular tree viewing, outlines strategies for improving your observations, and describes some of the most visually interesting tree structures, including leaves, flowers, buds, leaf scars, twigs, and bark. In-depth profiles of ten familiar species—including such beloved trees as white oak, southern magnolia, white pine, and tulip poplar—show you how to recognize and understand many of their most compelling (but usually overlooked) physical features.
Focusing on widely grown trees, this captivating book describes the rewards of careful and regular tree viewing, outlines strategies for improving your observations, and describes some of the most visually interesting tree structures, including leaves, flowers, buds, leaf scars, twigs, and bark. In-depth profiles of ten familiar species—including such beloved trees as white oak, southern magnolia, white pine, and tulip poplar—show you how to recognize and understand many of their most compelling (but usually overlooked) physical features.
245 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2011
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3314 people want to read
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August 26, 2014
Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but not so interesting as looking.
-Goethe
What does it mean to see something, to learn to really look? I have colleagues who do this with stones, who can look at something that would be utterly overlooked by most people-- a loose tumulus of rocks beside a road, say, or the exposed side of a hill-- and name the minerals, put together the pieces of geological history on display, and tell the stories of the stones. Other people can do this with clouds, perhaps, or stars, with texts on a page or paintings or the way people speak or interact. Is this part of what education is, simply extending one’s knowledge so that new aspects of the world become interpretable? This is likely where the humility of education comes in: the realization that however much one knows or sees, it is only an incredibly small sliver of the overall picture, and sight can go so much deeper in so many different directions.
But there’s an art to simply looking and seeing as well, something that complements and yet remains distinct from simply having knowledge. Something that moves observation closer to aesthetics and philosophy than pure objectivity. The prose of Nancy Hugo and the photography of Robert Llewellyn combine in this book to do this with trees.
They succeed extraordinarily. This is quite simply a stunning book. It opens up a new world, but it does this for a world that we’ve lived alongside, without seeing, for our entire lives. Hugo and Llewellyn examine the properties of ten species of trees common to America: oak, maple, tulip popular, white pine, and others. Most people-- myself included-- know and love trees in a general way. But the images and text in this work reveal that even the most common trees are almost utterly unknown. On some level I’m sure I knew that any plant producing seeds must have flowers (or cones, on evergreens), but who has seen the flowers of a maple or an oak? But there they are, hidden in the upper branches or the unfolding leaves of spring, captured in this book and shown for the delicate and alien things they are, looking as though they belonged on the waving fronds of some undersea creatures rather than the limbs of trees along my street.
To read this book is to see trees for the first time. I am stunned. I am absolutely stunned, stirred awake. To see these forms that seem so staid and unmoving, the background to our daily lives and the shade to our fortunate streets, as dynamic, changing, sexual organisms. People who think Groot in the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie is cool have no idea how alive and alien these common trees really are, from the antenna-like flowers of the red maple to the dangling tendrils of the oak male catkins.
You think there are aspects of the world you have a pretty good handle on, things that you can identify and then safely ignore for most of your life. It’s terrifying and refreshing to realize how much life and newness there is in the world around you. And then you’re struck-- how much else am I missing? Not simply in the living, green world around me or taking place under my nose in the garden, but what about in the faces of my family, or the unread texts on pages, or a thousand other everyday occurrences?
The greater part of the phenomena of Nature . . . are concealed from us all our lives. There is just as much beauty visible to us in the landscape as we are prepared to appreciate, and not a grain more. . . . A man sees only what concerns him.
-Thoreau
-Goethe
What does it mean to see something, to learn to really look? I have colleagues who do this with stones, who can look at something that would be utterly overlooked by most people-- a loose tumulus of rocks beside a road, say, or the exposed side of a hill-- and name the minerals, put together the pieces of geological history on display, and tell the stories of the stones. Other people can do this with clouds, perhaps, or stars, with texts on a page or paintings or the way people speak or interact. Is this part of what education is, simply extending one’s knowledge so that new aspects of the world become interpretable? This is likely where the humility of education comes in: the realization that however much one knows or sees, it is only an incredibly small sliver of the overall picture, and sight can go so much deeper in so many different directions.
But there’s an art to simply looking and seeing as well, something that complements and yet remains distinct from simply having knowledge. Something that moves observation closer to aesthetics and philosophy than pure objectivity. The prose of Nancy Hugo and the photography of Robert Llewellyn combine in this book to do this with trees.
They succeed extraordinarily. This is quite simply a stunning book. It opens up a new world, but it does this for a world that we’ve lived alongside, without seeing, for our entire lives. Hugo and Llewellyn examine the properties of ten species of trees common to America: oak, maple, tulip popular, white pine, and others. Most people-- myself included-- know and love trees in a general way. But the images and text in this work reveal that even the most common trees are almost utterly unknown. On some level I’m sure I knew that any plant producing seeds must have flowers (or cones, on evergreens), but who has seen the flowers of a maple or an oak? But there they are, hidden in the upper branches or the unfolding leaves of spring, captured in this book and shown for the delicate and alien things they are, looking as though they belonged on the waving fronds of some undersea creatures rather than the limbs of trees along my street.
To read this book is to see trees for the first time. I am stunned. I am absolutely stunned, stirred awake. To see these forms that seem so staid and unmoving, the background to our daily lives and the shade to our fortunate streets, as dynamic, changing, sexual organisms. People who think Groot in the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie is cool have no idea how alive and alien these common trees really are, from the antenna-like flowers of the red maple to the dangling tendrils of the oak male catkins.
You think there are aspects of the world you have a pretty good handle on, things that you can identify and then safely ignore for most of your life. It’s terrifying and refreshing to realize how much life and newness there is in the world around you. And then you’re struck-- how much else am I missing? Not simply in the living, green world around me or taking place under my nose in the garden, but what about in the faces of my family, or the unread texts on pages, or a thousand other everyday occurrences?
The greater part of the phenomena of Nature . . . are concealed from us all our lives. There is just as much beauty visible to us in the landscape as we are prepared to appreciate, and not a grain more. . . . A man sees only what concerns him.
-Thoreau
July 8, 2012
Ahh! My gosh!!! THIS is *the* most wonderful book! I absolutely love trees -- aesthetically and appreciatively when sheltered by their shade in 100 degree summer heat, buffered from wintery winds, enjoying their lodgings extended to the feathered and crawling critters... The photography and text in "Seeing Trees, Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees" is truly exceptional! Upon "discovering" it (in my local library) and browsing through, I wanted to share it with everyone because it's so beautifully done, so fascinating in describing the miracle of trees. I wholly recommend that you gift yourself with the company and pleasure of "Seeing Trees, Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees."
November 4, 2011
Trees are all around us. We see trees everywhere, whether we live in the city or the country, but do we really look at them and appreciate them? Or have they become commonplace, a part of the scenery? Seeing Trees takes a close up look at many trees we pass by everday.
As a bird watcher I am familiar with a lot of trees as both a home for the birds and as their food source. I spend a lot of time seeing the trees up close through my binoculars or camera lens as I’m following the birds. I have gone on nature trail tree walks and observed the trees and their structure, but this book goes a step further and delves into the fascinating detail of the smallest individual parts of the tree.
Seeing Trees is not just descriptions of trees, it is also a fantastic display of photography. Using special software, photographer Robert Llewellyn has produced gorgeous close up images of various parts of the tree. The images were produced by stitching together multiple photos taken at different focal points to create incredibly sharp and detailed photos.
The book is divided into two main parts, the first third discusses the different traits of trees such as leaves, flowers, fruit, buds, bark and twigs and the remainder is an intimate look at ten featured trees (American Beech, Ginkgo, Red Maple, Southern Magnolia, Tulip Poplar, White Oak, White Pine, American Sycamore, Black Walnut and Eastern Red Cedar), all common in North America. Interesting facts are presented in an easy to understand, conversational format. Spread throughout the text are the beautiful, detailed photos that I can’t say enough wonderful things about.
The more you look at a tree the more you will see. Two of the ten featured trees are ones I have in my own yard. My Eastern Red Cedar is a magnet for birds. Every year a bird will build a nest in it and in the autumn Robins and Cedar Waxwings flock to it to eat the berries it produces. Those berries are like fast food for birds! I thought I knew a lot about my tree but I learned that it is a female tree, males don’t produce berries, they only produce pollen. Other trees like my Black Walnut are both male and female. And those walnuts that rain down on me every autumn, they are edible if you want to go through the trouble of getting to them through the fruit. I’ll leave mine for the squirrels.
This is a gorgeous book, a great reference and a beautiful addition to the nature lover’s bookshelf.
As a bird watcher I am familiar with a lot of trees as both a home for the birds and as their food source. I spend a lot of time seeing the trees up close through my binoculars or camera lens as I’m following the birds. I have gone on nature trail tree walks and observed the trees and their structure, but this book goes a step further and delves into the fascinating detail of the smallest individual parts of the tree.
Seeing Trees is not just descriptions of trees, it is also a fantastic display of photography. Using special software, photographer Robert Llewellyn has produced gorgeous close up images of various parts of the tree. The images were produced by stitching together multiple photos taken at different focal points to create incredibly sharp and detailed photos.
The book is divided into two main parts, the first third discusses the different traits of trees such as leaves, flowers, fruit, buds, bark and twigs and the remainder is an intimate look at ten featured trees (American Beech, Ginkgo, Red Maple, Southern Magnolia, Tulip Poplar, White Oak, White Pine, American Sycamore, Black Walnut and Eastern Red Cedar), all common in North America. Interesting facts are presented in an easy to understand, conversational format. Spread throughout the text are the beautiful, detailed photos that I can’t say enough wonderful things about.
The more you look at a tree the more you will see. Two of the ten featured trees are ones I have in my own yard. My Eastern Red Cedar is a magnet for birds. Every year a bird will build a nest in it and in the autumn Robins and Cedar Waxwings flock to it to eat the berries it produces. Those berries are like fast food for birds! I thought I knew a lot about my tree but I learned that it is a female tree, males don’t produce berries, they only produce pollen. Other trees like my Black Walnut are both male and female. And those walnuts that rain down on me every autumn, they are edible if you want to go through the trouble of getting to them through the fruit. I’ll leave mine for the squirrels.
This is a gorgeous book, a great reference and a beautiful addition to the nature lover’s bookshelf.
February 6, 2012
Seeing Trees by Nancy Hugh and photography by Robert Llewellyn. fits into two genres. It's a fine handbook for identifying trees by their twigs and buds - provided you bring these specimens home as the book is oversized in order to best display the photographs. And photography is the second genre into which the book fits nicely. The photographs are gorgeous.
To see the photos go to Amazon's entry for the book ( http://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Trees-Di... ) and scroll. Most of the book is there. The photo on the cover gives you some idea what to expect. The book description at Amazon explains the unearthly beauty of these unusual photographs thus: Using software developed for work with microscopes, Robert Llewellyn created incredibly sharp close-up photographs of the tree detail by stitching together 8 to 45 images of each subject—each shot at a different focal point.
A section called "Ten Trees: Intimate Views" zooms in on the American Beech, Ginkgo, Red Maple, Southern Magnolia, Tulip Poplar, White Oak, White Pine, American Sycamore, Black Walnut and Eastern Red Cedar. The photos are so entrancing it's easy to overlook the text, which is entertaining and informative.
2012 No 21
To see the photos go to Amazon's entry for the book ( http://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Trees-Di... ) and scroll. Most of the book is there. The photo on the cover gives you some idea what to expect. The book description at Amazon explains the unearthly beauty of these unusual photographs thus: Using software developed for work with microscopes, Robert Llewellyn created incredibly sharp close-up photographs of the tree detail by stitching together 8 to 45 images of each subject—each shot at a different focal point.
A section called "Ten Trees: Intimate Views" zooms in on the American Beech, Ginkgo, Red Maple, Southern Magnolia, Tulip Poplar, White Oak, White Pine, American Sycamore, Black Walnut and Eastern Red Cedar. The photos are so entrancing it's easy to overlook the text, which is entertaining and informative.
2012 No 21
November 18, 2018
Can I give 10 stars? This is an absolutely delightful book filled with infectious writing by Nancy Hugo and accompanied by the most clear and helpful botanical photos I have ever seen (by Robert Llewellyn).
Hugo's goal is twofold: to inspire people to want to look - really look - at trees, and to teach them how to go about it. While the book is filled with science, it is not presented as a scientific text; instead, it's filled with enthusiasm, joy, and straightforward language. I knew I had selected the right book to learn more about trees when Hugo wrote about "jizz" early in the book:
The book starts with viewing strategies before diving into how to observe different tree traits, including leaves, flowers and cones, fruit, buds and leaf scars, and bark and twigs. These sections are full of crisp, closeup photos that show you what to look for. All photos are taken against a white backdrop so you can really see what's going on. The second half of the book is devoted to an exploration of ten of the most common trees found in the Eastern U.S. (American beech, American sycamore, black walnut, eastern red cedar, ginkgo, red maple, southern magnolia, tulip poplar, white oak, and white pine).
Throughout, Hugo's writing sparks interest in details I didn't know to care about - such as leaf scars. Leaf scars?! I didn't know that's what all the bumps along a twig are. How could one not look for them after reading such a passage:
There are so many other sections I could quote here, but really I just want you to seek out this book and wallow in it. My only possible criticism is that it is not conveniently sized for me to tote along on walks to look at trees (it is a heavy hardcover book measuring 9 x 10.25"). I'd love to see an accompanying field guide containing a distillation of the "Observing Tree Traits" section along with some pages for notes on my trees.
This book will change your relationship with your own yard and neighborhood!
Hugo's goal is twofold: to inspire people to want to look - really look - at trees, and to teach them how to go about it. While the book is filled with science, it is not presented as a scientific text; instead, it's filled with enthusiasm, joy, and straightforward language. I knew I had selected the right book to learn more about trees when Hugo wrote about "jizz" early in the book:
Just by virtue of being in a tree's presence, one develops an overall impression of the tree that is more than the sum of its parts. The word birders use to describe such an impression is jizz. Forget any other meaning you may have learned for this word; for birders, jizz means the overall impression or appearance of a bird garnered from such features as its shape, posture, flying style, size, color, voice, habitat, and location. It is a word that could also be applied to trees, because those who know trees best know them not as collections of identifiable parts but as organic wholes, like friends or family members whose recognizable features and behaviors have blended into one unmistakable, and beloved, presence. A black locust, for example, is not just a collection of parts that include compound leaves, dropping racemes of white flowers, deeply fissured bark, and pea-like seed pods. It is the sweet fragrance of May flowers dripping from broken branches on a ramshackle trunk, not to mention bees visiting the flowers and leaf miners devouring the leaves. To experience the jizz of trees, one needs to know them intimately, and the information that follows should help you accomplish that. (38)
The book starts with viewing strategies before diving into how to observe different tree traits, including leaves, flowers and cones, fruit, buds and leaf scars, and bark and twigs. These sections are full of crisp, closeup photos that show you what to look for. All photos are taken against a white backdrop so you can really see what's going on. The second half of the book is devoted to an exploration of ten of the most common trees found in the Eastern U.S. (American beech, American sycamore, black walnut, eastern red cedar, ginkgo, red maple, southern magnolia, tulip poplar, white oak, and white pine).
Throughout, Hugo's writing sparks interest in details I didn't know to care about - such as leaf scars. Leaf scars?! I didn't know that's what all the bumps along a twig are. How could one not look for them after reading such a passage:
What leaf scars represent - their symbolic significance - intrigues me as much as their physical appearance, however. Everywhere you see a leaf scar and its accompanying bundle scars, you are seeing a healed-over spot where a tree has, in order to keep itself alive, discarded a leaf. Because in winter, with reduced sunlight, a leaf is a liability to a deciduous tree (kept on the tree, it would continue to lose water to the atmosphere while producing little food), trees break their connections to their leaves and instead put their resources into maintaining their other living parts, including their resting buds. Not only does this process seem intelligent, efficient, and elegant to me, but there is something about it that seems to represent a life lesson - the wisdom of marshaling your resources when they are limited and you are under stress, so you can survive to live more productively another day. (89)
There are so many other sections I could quote here, but really I just want you to seek out this book and wallow in it. My only possible criticism is that it is not conveniently sized for me to tote along on walks to look at trees (it is a heavy hardcover book measuring 9 x 10.25"). I'd love to see an accompanying field guide containing a distillation of the "Observing Tree Traits" section along with some pages for notes on my trees.
This book will change your relationship with your own yard and neighborhood!
April 6, 2022
قررت أتوقف بعد نص الكتاب لإنه هيبدأ يوصف عشرة أنواع من الأشجار معظمهم في أمريكا الشمالية ولذلك معنديش اهتمام بيهم. للسبب دا برضه بكتب الريفيو دا بالعربي، علشان أي محب للأشجار عربي مر على الكتاب يعرف إنه مركز على أنواع أشجار مش بتنمو في مناطق الشرق الأوسط أو شمال أفريقيا عموما.
أنا بدأت الكتاب علشان بتفرج على الأشجار كتير وكنت عايزة أحسن مهارة ملاحظتي ليهم وأعرف اسامي الحاجات اللي بلاحظها؛ فكان النص الأول في الكتاب جميل واتبسطت بيه ودلني على أدوات كتير استعملها وافكر فيها وأنا بتفرج على جمال أي شجرة. الكتاب مزود بصور بس للأسف مش لكل حاجة ومش بطريقة منظمة، على الأقل في النسخة اللي لاقيتها، ودا بوظ تجربتي علشان كل شوية أقفل الكتاب وأروح أدور على صور أفهم منها اللي بيتوصف ولولا الحركة دي كان الكتاب استحق أكتر من كدا.
كنت حابة الكتاب يكون أدبي أكتر من حيث الوصف وطريقة الكتابة لإني بدأته علشان الكاتبة نفسها م��بة للأشجار، لكن هو كان مجرد شيء informative واللي هي مش حاجة سيئة عموما.
أنا بدأت الكتاب علشان بتفرج على الأشجار كتير وكنت عايزة أحسن مهارة ملاحظتي ليهم وأعرف اسامي الحاجات اللي بلاحظها؛ فكان النص الأول في الكتاب جميل واتبسطت بيه ودلني على أدوات كتير استعملها وافكر فيها وأنا بتفرج على جمال أي شجرة. الكتاب مزود بصور بس للأسف مش لكل حاجة ومش بطريقة منظمة، على الأقل في النسخة اللي لاقيتها، ودا بوظ تجربتي علشان كل شوية أقفل الكتاب وأروح أدور على صور أفهم منها اللي بيتوصف ولولا الحركة دي كان الكتاب استحق أكتر من كدا.
كنت حابة الكتاب يكون أدبي أكتر من حيث الوصف وطريقة الكتابة لإني بدأته علشان الكاتبة نفسها م��بة للأشجار، لكن هو كان مجرد شيء informative واللي هي مش حاجة سيئة عموما.
April 12, 2012
Gorgeous photographs of leaves, flowers, and buds -- the writing is dense and less interesting. I skipped most of the text and was most impressed with the images of pines and ginkgo.
March 15, 2017
The author's tone is very relaxed and approachable. She makes the reader, no matter now novice to botany, feel like she too can gain joy from observing trees. The photography is absolutely incredible. I have never seen anything as good. Stunning and moving.
January 26, 2021
WOW TREES ARE SO COOL. i love the perspective that this book gives on tree observation. it brings life and character to something so familiar as a sweetgum or pine tree. attaches names to trees i have seen for y e a r s but never identified, like sycamore. inspires me to wonder at the details and variety and processes in plant life all around. makes me excited to explore. and oh, the photographs are stunning. and i was so happy that it's written so accessibly for someone (like me) who doesn't have a whole lot of prior knowledge, without being textbooky.
August 27, 2012
This book is worthy of the coffee table and bedstand. I’ve also enjoyed it on the terrace with a cuppa. I picked this beauty up at Kew Gardens after a day in early spring with lemony lime limbs budding out of all over the conifers. I couldn’t resist touching and photographing the bright new growth in contrast to the mature deep pine. Sure there were daffodils galore, but the trees owned the garden. Seeing Trees has observant and creative text, but the images (with the focus merging multiple depths of field on micro images) bring the volume to life by presenting amazing beauty very close up.
December 31, 2011
A delight to read. I highly recommend it to everyone but particularly those in the eastern United States. I guarantee you won't look at the trees around you the same way again. The writer's enthusiasm is infectious. She's a great writer and I haven't even mentioned the photographs, they're awesome! I'm going to save up my money and buy this book, it begs repeat readings. Anyway, bydhttmwfi, just read it already.
June 25, 2012
Very good natural and cultural field guide to ten or so tree groups. As a library rental, I enjoyed the few chapters I found time to read, but was not sorely tempted to renew the check out, largely because many of these trees don't live in the climate I do and I'd rather spend my limited amateur-arborist hours learning about the trees that do.
April 1, 2021
This is a lovely coffee table book with some wonderful close up photos of leaves, flowers & fruit/cones/seeds of various North American Trees.
May 30, 2016
Wow, another beautiful book about trees, this one with delicate photos of seeds, stems, leaves (some bark), and interesting text about the tree in questions. Purports to be north American trees; in fact, eastern trees. No cottonwoods; only cedars for evergreens. Still, a fascinating book if you love trees (as I do).
May 13, 2013
Beautiful - a perfect balance of science and art, exactly the way living trees are. I read while everyone else in the room watched Duke basketball....Duke lost, I gained a gorgeous book. "Learning by looking" is my mantra for life...this book is all about that.
December 21, 2014
Incredibly stimulating!
May 20, 2015
Beautiful book! If, like me, you admire the artful wonder of leaves and buds and seeds. Great choice for a stay-in cold winter morning's read!
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January 18, 2021This is one of the most beautiful books in the history of books. That is, the photographs in this book are among the most beautiful in the history of photographs. Luminescent leaves glowing with green light, baby leaves unfolding like fans, or uncurling pink and fuzzy. Flower and seed structures that look like aliens or Chihuly sculptures. Delicate, chunky, sticky, sturdy, ethereal, a variety of different tree parts, unique and beautiful.
One can just drink in these photographs, but the point of the book is that all this beauty is just outside your window. You just haven’t noticed. This book is a collaboration between author Nancy Ross Hugo and photographer Robert Llewellyn. Author Hugo includes lot of suggestions for how to tree watch: get binoculars so you can see things high up in the tree, get a magnifying glass (or loupe) so you can see small things up close, try to draw things, lie on a hammock and look up, keep a journal with dates. I thought all that was kind of silly. Sure, they’re all good ideas, but really, the only thing you need, if you want to be a tree watcher, is to make up your mind to do it.
Hugo is a true plant nerd who gets giddy with excitement when a previously unseen tree flower falls into her path. She calls up her friends, asking if she can come over and observe their trees. First she tells us what to look for when looking at trees: how the leaves, flowers, fruit, buds and bark differ, and how they can be used to identify a tree. The text is sprinkled with scientific terms (strobili, marcescent, stipules, lenticels, and petioles) but mostly it is chatty and full of her personal observations.
After talking about trees in general, the author-photographer team look at ten trees in depth. The trees are: American beech, American sycamore, black walnut, Eastern red cedar, ginkgo, red maple, Southern magnolia, tulip poplar, white oak, and white pine. Each chapter begins with a photo of a mature specimen tree in a field, showing its characteristic silhouette. Then Llewellyn shows the gorgeous up-close details, and Hugo shares all the fun facts about that tree. The information about the flowers is perhaps the most interesting and useful, because tree flowers often bloom high up above our heads, and they are often small, so many people have never seen them.
This book does not contain a bibliography or reading list, but the following books are mentioned here and there through the text. I thought it might be useful to tree lovers to include them as a list.
Bernd Heinrich, The Trees in My Forest
Will Cohu, Out of the Woods: The Armchair Guide to Trees
Joan Maloof, Teaching the Trees
David Suzuki and Wayne Grady, Tree: A Life Story
Herbert L Edlin, Trees, Woods and Man
Julia Ellen Rogers, The Tree Book
Andrea Wulf, The Brother Gardeners
Walter E Rogers, Tree Flowers of Forest, Park and Street
David Allen Sibley, The Sibley Guide to Trees
David Streeter, The Natural History of the Oak Tree
Collin Tudge, The Tree
One can just drink in these photographs, but the point of the book is that all this beauty is just outside your window. You just haven’t noticed. This book is a collaboration between author Nancy Ross Hugo and photographer Robert Llewellyn. Author Hugo includes lot of suggestions for how to tree watch: get binoculars so you can see things high up in the tree, get a magnifying glass (or loupe) so you can see small things up close, try to draw things, lie on a hammock and look up, keep a journal with dates. I thought all that was kind of silly. Sure, they’re all good ideas, but really, the only thing you need, if you want to be a tree watcher, is to make up your mind to do it.
Hugo is a true plant nerd who gets giddy with excitement when a previously unseen tree flower falls into her path. She calls up her friends, asking if she can come over and observe their trees. First she tells us what to look for when looking at trees: how the leaves, flowers, fruit, buds and bark differ, and how they can be used to identify a tree. The text is sprinkled with scientific terms (strobili, marcescent, stipules, lenticels, and petioles) but mostly it is chatty and full of her personal observations.
After talking about trees in general, the author-photographer team look at ten trees in depth. The trees are: American beech, American sycamore, black walnut, Eastern red cedar, ginkgo, red maple, Southern magnolia, tulip poplar, white oak, and white pine. Each chapter begins with a photo of a mature specimen tree in a field, showing its characteristic silhouette. Then Llewellyn shows the gorgeous up-close details, and Hugo shares all the fun facts about that tree. The information about the flowers is perhaps the most interesting and useful, because tree flowers often bloom high up above our heads, and they are often small, so many people have never seen them.
This book does not contain a bibliography or reading list, but the following books are mentioned here and there through the text. I thought it might be useful to tree lovers to include them as a list.
Bernd Heinrich, The Trees in My Forest
Will Cohu, Out of the Woods: The Armchair Guide to Trees
Joan Maloof, Teaching the Trees
David Suzuki and Wayne Grady, Tree: A Life Story
Herbert L Edlin, Trees, Woods and Man
Julia Ellen Rogers, The Tree Book
Andrea Wulf, The Brother Gardeners
Walter E Rogers, Tree Flowers of Forest, Park and Street
David Allen Sibley, The Sibley Guide to Trees
David Streeter, The Natural History of the Oak Tree
Collin Tudge, The Tree
February 1, 2019
My friend Janelle suggested this thinking it would be right up my alley. And she was right, of course.
The first section of the book is about trees in general and her observations about their features -- leaves, twigs, flowers, seeds, bark, etc. -- although I noticed she didn't dwell much on roots. The second half of the book goes into greater detail about 10 particular species that are representative of various features and which can mostly be found in the mid-Atlantic states: American Beech, American Sycamore, Black Walnut, Eastern Red Cedar, Ginkgo, Red Maple, Southern Magnolia, Tulip Poplar, White Oak and White Pine.
Her passion for the topic is obvious and I marvelled at her descriptions of the tiniest flowers and blooms. Sometimes I got a bit overwhelmed trying to keep track of which trees were male and female, or had both sexes on different branches, or on the same branch. But still, it's a fantastic book for everyone who has every looked at a tree and wondered about some detail. Her writing is excellent and her knowledge is only surpassed by her infectious curiosity. I also loved the excitement she conveys over all the things about trees she has yet to learn.
Also, I've never read a book on a nature topic with such beautiful photography.
The first section of the book is about trees in general and her observations about their features -- leaves, twigs, flowers, seeds, bark, etc. -- although I noticed she didn't dwell much on roots. The second half of the book goes into greater detail about 10 particular species that are representative of various features and which can mostly be found in the mid-Atlantic states: American Beech, American Sycamore, Black Walnut, Eastern Red Cedar, Ginkgo, Red Maple, Southern Magnolia, Tulip Poplar, White Oak and White Pine.
Her passion for the topic is obvious and I marvelled at her descriptions of the tiniest flowers and blooms. Sometimes I got a bit overwhelmed trying to keep track of which trees were male and female, or had both sexes on different branches, or on the same branch. But still, it's a fantastic book for everyone who has every looked at a tree and wondered about some detail. Her writing is excellent and her knowledge is only surpassed by her infectious curiosity. I also loved the excitement she conveys over all the things about trees she has yet to learn.
Also, I've never read a book on a nature topic with such beautiful photography.
October 29, 2018
Awesome! This book has some beautiful photos of trees and tree parts. I used the book to help me see more of what happens in the woods near where I live. Really fantastic!
December 29, 2021
This book gave me so much joy to read and wander through the photos. It truly helped me "see" trees differently and better. As she mentions, it's like birdwatching, but without the fleeting moments with a creature that by its very nature is fleeting. Trees allow you to slow down and truly see and observe, as long as you are paying attention. I will not only read this book again, but use it as a seasonal reference because trees change more than fathomable. It's a beautiful reminder to pay attention, truly see what is right in front of you, and to be still, yet strong.
March 11, 2017
Not quite what I expected, though it's a fine book and it opened my eyes to look for details in trees. I live in the woods, and this book showed me how little I actually see of the trees around me. I found the book a bit too much about the authors' adventures and engagement and it lacked some level of systematic exploration that I would have preferred. That said, I learned enough to make it more than worthwhile. The photographs are remarkable and instructive -- the best part of the book in fact. Along with The Hidden Life of Trees, this book has served as a fine starting guidepost for further explorations.
March 24, 2014
To Make A Forest.
Whether you live in a big city or in a more rural setting, trees are all around you. They may be in city parks, school playgrounds, government buildings or urban green-belts. In some locations, away from the cities, trees make up dense forest that can stretch for hundreds of miles, line natural waterways or lakes, stand as lone sentinels in rocky and eroded landscapes. If your like me, you appreciate trees but have only the most basic ability to tell them apart. Sure, most of us know the difference between a pine tree and, say, an oak tree. But usually that's as far as it goes. In Seeing Trees author Nancy Ross Hugo addresses that issue with an in depth look at the biology and anatomy of trees, all kinds of trees. Drawing parallels with bird watching, Hugo shows us how get started in a "tree watching" hobby. Like all complex life forms trees are made up of multiple body parts. Leaves, branches and trunk-bark are the first things we notice. But those are just the surface parts, what we need is a closer look. To that end, Hugo gives the reader a guided tour of tree anatomy. The book opens with a section on "tree viewing": when and where to look, getting a good field guide and techniques to use for the best results. Up next a closer look at various tree parts like; leaves, flowers, fruit and bark. Flower and leaf buds are studied as are twigs, seeds and pollen. The last section puts the spotlight on 9 of our native North American trees and 1 exotic. Get to know: Black Walnut, Red Maple, White Oak and American Beech among others. Two tree species deserve extra attention, the Ginkgo and the Osage Orange. The Ginkgo is an exotic species that was introduced to North America from China some 200 years ago and has established itself in any well watered, drained environment.
Considered by many to be a "living fossil", the Ginkgo has been around for over 250 million years but today is represented by only one species living in China. The Osage Orange is another ancient species, this one native to North America. It's over sized fruit required over sized herbivores to spread its seeds. Ice Age mega fauna like Mammoths, Mastodons, Ground Sloth and Camels may have feasted on its juicy, bitter, fruit. Hugo's writing is conversational, like setting down with a friendly Botanist over afternoon tea. Anyone interested in nature writing in general or trees in particular should find Seeing Trees to be an enjoyable read. Hugo's approach is, for the most part, non-technical but some of the descriptive parts can be a little daunting. Yet, even when she's getting technical the text is easy to follow and I came away with a better understanding of trees and a real desire to try "tree watching" as a recreational hobby. Now, if I can just find a good field guide and a group of interested nature lovers, who knows where this will lead me. Along with Hugo's interesting text are Robert Liewellyn's beautiful photo's that decorate the narrative with many incredible images, ranging from full trees to micro's of buds, flower and other tree parts. The use of the white background is effective on some shots but on others it was distracting and even a little annoying ( ie: pale yellow-green or white flowers against a white background is not the best way to highlight your subject. In some frames a dark or black, or even a natural background, would have been preferable). That being said, this is still a wonderful nature book and one that I will be referring back to, now and then. I had no technical or formatting problems with this Kindle edition.
Last Ranger
October 6, 2014
Nancy Ross Hugo invites readers to stop and really study the intricate details of trees that are often missed in cursory glances of these everyday botanical specimens. She shares some of her discoveries about the trees in her background and neighborhood (in Virginia) that she discovered after making a concentrated effort to really watch them for two years. Some of the most astounding discoveries were hard to see flowers that precede well-recognized fruit, and the ability to identify some types of trees by the patterns of their leaf scars. Robert Llewellyn's intricately detailed photographs accompany the the various aspects of trees highlighted in the text.
To be perfectly honest, I picked this book up for the photographs. I read Seeing Flowers, another book that Robert Llewellyn did the photography for, and I absolutely loved it. His photography is amazing! I also found the text of that book to be very readable and interesting. Seeing Trees is also readable and informative, but it didn't quite measure up to Seeing Flowers, and that's partly just the difference in authors' writing styles. While this book is by no means boring, and it does present a noble challenge of noticing the incredible oft-missed intricacies of nature around you and to enjoy those intricacies, I did not find Nancy Ross Hugo's writing as captivating. I'm all for people getting into what they are doing, but I found myself sometimes rolling my eyes as Hugo waxed a little too sentimental about her infatuation with trees, and the way that she often gives credit to the trees for designing themselves in such and such a way. (She makes it sound like they are fully sentient beings who drew up blueprints and then grew their seeds to match. I think she's confusing her backyard botanical neighbors with JRR Tolkien's Ents.) Still, I do find myself looking for the more intricate details as I pass plant life recently, and the details she shares in the book are often fascinating. How did I grow up with several maple trees in my front yard and fail to see the flowers every year? We often notice the helicopter seeds, but the precursors are so small they are easy to miss. And that is true with many of the other trees Hugo and Llewellyn highlight in this book. And if you've missed these wonders before, thanks to Llewellyn's incredible photographs, you can catch them here and know what to look for in the future. Now, the author and photographer decided to limit their trees to those often found in a broad range of North America, so if you're looking for a survey of a great number of trees, this is not the book you want (another disappointment after reading Seeing Flowers which is more of a broad survey). But it does focus on 10 commonly seen trees in the US most residents will recognize, and the principals applied to their study can be applied generally to many other trees not highlighted.
To be perfectly honest, I picked this book up for the photographs. I read Seeing Flowers, another book that Robert Llewellyn did the photography for, and I absolutely loved it. His photography is amazing! I also found the text of that book to be very readable and interesting. Seeing Trees is also readable and informative, but it didn't quite measure up to Seeing Flowers, and that's partly just the difference in authors' writing styles. While this book is by no means boring, and it does present a noble challenge of noticing the incredible oft-missed intricacies of nature around you and to enjoy those intricacies, I did not find Nancy Ross Hugo's writing as captivating. I'm all for people getting into what they are doing, but I found myself sometimes rolling my eyes as Hugo waxed a little too sentimental about her infatuation with trees, and the way that she often gives credit to the trees for designing themselves in such and such a way. (She makes it sound like they are fully sentient beings who drew up blueprints and then grew their seeds to match. I think she's confusing her backyard botanical neighbors with JRR Tolkien's Ents.) Still, I do find myself looking for the more intricate details as I pass plant life recently, and the details she shares in the book are often fascinating. How did I grow up with several maple trees in my front yard and fail to see the flowers every year? We often notice the helicopter seeds, but the precursors are so small they are easy to miss. And that is true with many of the other trees Hugo and Llewellyn highlight in this book. And if you've missed these wonders before, thanks to Llewellyn's incredible photographs, you can catch them here and know what to look for in the future. Now, the author and photographer decided to limit their trees to those often found in a broad range of North America, so if you're looking for a survey of a great number of trees, this is not the book you want (another disappointment after reading Seeing Flowers which is more of a broad survey). But it does focus on 10 commonly seen trees in the US most residents will recognize, and the principals applied to their study can be applied generally to many other trees not highlighted.
September 18, 2017
My favourite chapter was Gingko. I just had to look up on YouTube (as Hugo referenced) the gingko sperm swimming to the egg. Fascinating!
January 2, 2015
The photographs alone make this book worthwhile. The text itself is more than a collection of tree facts; the overall theme is opening your eyes, looking more carefully, and seeing the beautiful and the amazing in the everyday (specifically, of course, in everyday trees.) it highlights ten species in particular: ginkgo, white oak, tulip poplar, red maple, eastern red cedar, white pine, southern magnolia, American beech, American sycamore and black walnut. Even though it wasn't just tree trivia, I'll share my favorite tree facts gleaned from this book.
Witch Hazel seeds burst from their pods with an audible pop, shooting up to 30 feet away.
What I thought were good sweet gum seeds in spiky "gum balls" were unfertilized seeds. Viable seeds seed are 1/3" and winged.
American Linden has lopsided bud scales, which is cool because it's leaves are also characteristically lopsided.
Black Locust bud scales are sunken below the surface of the twig.
Black walnut bud scars look like ET's head!
There is a great acronym for trees with opposite leaf arrangement: DAMP HORSE (dogwood, ash, maple, paulownia (princess tree), and horse chestnut (and the similar buckeye)).
The young bark of tulip poplar has a menthol smell if abraded.
I also realized that a tree I thought was catalpa was a princess tree. I can tell them apart by seed pods and flowers, but neither were on the tree I saw. But I noticed its opposite leaf arrangement and thought it was catalpa. However, catalpa (as I found out in the book) technically has a whorled leaf arrangement. Also, the author talked about the huge, atypically shaped leaves on princess tree saplings. This past summer, my son collected a such a leaf from a sapling under the "catalpa". It's always fun to correct a misidentification without even re-looking at the tree!
Bottom line: highly recommended to any tree lover.
Witch Hazel seeds burst from their pods with an audible pop, shooting up to 30 feet away.
What I thought were good sweet gum seeds in spiky "gum balls" were unfertilized seeds. Viable seeds seed are 1/3" and winged.
American Linden has lopsided bud scales, which is cool because it's leaves are also characteristically lopsided.
Black Locust bud scales are sunken below the surface of the twig.
Black walnut bud scars look like ET's head!
There is a great acronym for trees with opposite leaf arrangement: DAMP HORSE (dogwood, ash, maple, paulownia (princess tree), and horse chestnut (and the similar buckeye)).
The young bark of tulip poplar has a menthol smell if abraded.
I also realized that a tree I thought was catalpa was a princess tree. I can tell them apart by seed pods and flowers, but neither were on the tree I saw. But I noticed its opposite leaf arrangement and thought it was catalpa. However, catalpa (as I found out in the book) technically has a whorled leaf arrangement. Also, the author talked about the huge, atypically shaped leaves on princess tree saplings. This past summer, my son collected a such a leaf from a sapling under the "catalpa". It's always fun to correct a misidentification without even re-looking at the tree!
Bottom line: highly recommended to any tree lover.
December 1, 2011
This book was amazing. The author talks about trees and how they change all year-round and how there’s beauty in that. She isn’t too science-y in the way she writes so it’s a great book for anyone. If she does break out the science she makes it very easy to understand. So she talks about trees, ten in particular, and the writing style is relaxed but enthusiastic, so the book has a really nice flow. Ms. Hugo isn’t exactly teaching you about trees, but she’s definitely showing you new things about trees. So interesting. There is a “stop and smell the roses” feel to the book as well. Very enjoyable to read.
The photos in this book are outstanding. The pictures are made up of something like 8 to 45 individual photos put together, some of them using a microscope to get the details. These gorgeous photos (there’s at least one on each page) make the book even better. It’s almost like having two books in one, because I’m not going to lie, the first thing I did was look at all the pictures then I went back and read the book.
The book is the perfect length, and at the end I was wanting more. I don’t know if there are plans for another book where they tackle ten more trees, but they totally could, I’m hooked.
If you like nature, even just a little bit, I think you’ll enjoy this one. If you love nature (and great photography) I think this would be a great book to own, and this is coming from someone who works in a library and doesn’t buy many books anymore, I really think this would be the kind of book that you would return to often.
The photos in this book are outstanding. The pictures are made up of something like 8 to 45 individual photos put together, some of them using a microscope to get the details. These gorgeous photos (there’s at least one on each page) make the book even better. It’s almost like having two books in one, because I’m not going to lie, the first thing I did was look at all the pictures then I went back and read the book.
The book is the perfect length, and at the end I was wanting more. I don’t know if there are plans for another book where they tackle ten more trees, but they totally could, I’m hooked.
If you like nature, even just a little bit, I think you’ll enjoy this one. If you love nature (and great photography) I think this would be a great book to own, and this is coming from someone who works in a library and doesn’t buy many books anymore, I really think this would be the kind of book that you would return to often.
February 3, 2012
The author describes life cycles and seasonal processes of trees, with detailed attention to 10 species. The photography by Robert Llewellyn is stunning, and made me long to head outside with my camera. However, after reading the description of his process: “stitching together eight to forty-five images of each subject, each shot at a different point of focus” I was pretty sure mine would not measure up. The photographs are taken against a white background, which adds to their clarity.
The writing is as exquisite as the photographs; author Nancy Ross Hugo is eloquent, loves trees, and includes thoughtful commentary on observing and learning. The only disappointment for me is that almost all of the featured trees (exception: redbud!) thrive in Virginia or places with similar climates, rather than in the western U.S.
The writing is as exquisite as the photographs; author Nancy Ross Hugo is eloquent, loves trees, and includes thoughtful commentary on observing and learning. The only disappointment for me is that almost all of the featured trees (exception: redbud!) thrive in Virginia or places with similar climates, rather than in the western U.S.
March 12, 2012
even if you think you know everything there is to black walnuts, ginkos, red cedars, sycamores, and beech, you aint seen nothin yet. a most admirable book on trees common to virginia (and most of usa east of mississippi river) author hugo is insatiable in her curiosity and writes about the lives of trees as if they were her best friends. you kinda get they feeling they are. and photographer llewellyn has incredible shots of many aspects of the trees, especially their sexual organs, which are the prettiest really, or at least most intriguing, not to mention bark, leaves, long shots, seeds, underneath shots, fall spring summer shots. for all tree lovers new and old.
January 21, 2012
This book is amazing. Have you ever thought about really looking at trees? Learning to tell their seasons in the infinite little details? This book makes me want to dedicate my life to seeing trees. The photographs are spectacular and the prose is marvelous. If you are a tree person, read this book.
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