Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees (Seeing Series) Hardcover – August 16, 2011

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.LastRanger

This is a fascinating book about the general characteristics of trees, and about the habits of 10 species of trees found in America. The commentary of the life of these trees is almost lyrical and is captivating in its own way. There is dreamy, close-up photography throughout the book of leaves, seed pods, blossoms, bark, maple "helicopters", nuts, stems, buds, branches, gumballs, pinecones, and regal tree specimens with beautifully spread out branches.. The photos have the appearance of being drawn and painted in the hyper-realistic style. In fact, the only way that I am sure that they are not drawings and are actual photographs is that the photographer is profiled on the dust jacket. The book wasn't what I was expecting. It is not filled with photographs of old stands of trees or multitudes of tree species to contemplate planting in your yard. It is much more than that. It is a treatise on the life of trees, an educational work of art.

This seems like a great book for going beyond leaf-shapes for tree identification. The stunning, close-up photographs of leaves, seeds, blooms, etc. invite browsing, and will enable tree lovers to make fresh discoveries about trees they see daily. I purchased it as a gift, so I haven't used it myself.

I loved this book! Not only did I learn a lot about the nuances of trees, but I loved the writing. Nancy Hugo's love for trees was woven throughout her prose and her own spirit seemed embedded in her words. She is someone I would like to know. At any rate, even though the trees chosen were from the east and I live in the Pacific Northwest, I could apply the knowledge and am now so much more attuned to the trees here. I also have a transplanted Magnolia that for some reason thrives among conifers and Hugo's chapter on this beloved tree was very enlightening.

I like the way this book gives you a different point of view for everyday trees. It is important to get to know your neighbors and that's exactly what the book does. You should buy a hardcopy if you can, because it is definitely not a good e-book for it has so many colored photos (I use Kindle Paperwhite, which gives images in black and white only).

Great Book

I am an artist and was looking for close up photography of ginkgo leaves, wanting to draw them realistically.Well, I got accurate ginkgo leaves and more.The photography is just delightful, incredible closeups of a variety of common trees.The beauty of leaves, seeds, bark, etc is artistically inspiring on many levels, across many disciplines. And I thought that i was not interested in info about the trees but the text is informative, presented so even i could understand it, and chatty enough not to bore. I am reading through all of it surprisingly. Well worth the money, this book. Oh, my complaint is that there are not enough trees represented- I want MORE! Great job, Nancy R. Hugo ! Thank you!

Beautiful. The illustrations in this collection of observations about different species will change the way you see the beauty of trees. What we’ve always overlooked and failed to enjoy or appreciate. This is on my recommend list of books for truly upholding the value of trees in creating a sense of place and peace in our hectic lives

A wonderful book that really taught me to look at trees. The photography is outstanding and the text easy to read and approachable. The majority of the trees examined in detail are American but many have sister trees in Europe and it is the learning to see that is so important.

lovely book, especially in conjunction with :"seeing flowers", made a great gift set for mom. Mothers day or birthday? well done

this is an awesome book my wife loves it

great tree book - a great addition to my collection