Tree

Only God can make a tree, wrote Joyce Kilmer in one of the most celebrated of poems. In Tree: A Life Story, authors David Suzuki and Wayne Grady extend that celebration in a biography of this extraordinary and extraordinarily important organism. A story that spans a millennium and includes a cast of millions but focuses on a single tree, a Douglas fir, Tree describes in poetic detail the organisms modest origins that begin with a dramatic burst of millions of microscopic grains of pollen. The authors recount the amazing characteristics of the species, how they reproduce and how they receive from and offer nourishment to generations of other plants and animals. The trees pivotal role in making life possible for the creatures around it including human beings is lovingly explored. The richly detailed text and Robert Batemans original art pay tribute to this ubiquitous organism that is too often taken for granted.