Ancient Trees: Trees that live for a thousand years

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Foreword; INTRODUCTION; REDWOOD: The phoenix tree; BRISTLECONE PINE: The tree that rewrote history; MONTEZUMA BALD CYPRESS: Swamp giant; MONKEY PUZZLE: Tree of fire and ice; AMAZONIAN ANCIENTS Five survivors; YEW The guardian of time; OAK Spirit of the wildwood; SWEET CHESTNUT Tree of protection; LIME The dragon tree; OLIVE Tree of peace; WELWITSCHIA Dwarf tree of the Namib desert; BAOBAB The upside-down tree; KAURI Lord of the forest; TOTARA Sacred tree of the Maoris; ANTARCTIC BEECH Survivor from Gondwana; FIG Sacred tree of the Old World.;Among all the varied productions with which Nature has adorned the surfaces of the earth, none awakens our sympathies, or interests our imagination so powerfully as those venerable trees, which seem to have stood the lapse of ages John Muir, 1868 A fascinating celebration of the some of the oldest living organisms on the planet, from the grand Oaks of Europe and mighty Redwoods of California to Africas upside-down Baobab tree, and from the Ginkgos of China and Korea to the Olive tree, the worldwide symbol of peace. Ancient Trees covers those species of tree that have lived for more than a thousand years: the Redwood, Bristlecone pine, Montezuma Cypress, the Monkey Puzzle, Amazonian Ancients, Yew, Oak, Sweet Chestnut, Lime, Olive, Welwitschia, the Baobab, Kauri, Totara, Antarctic Beech, the Fig, Cedar, and Ginkgo. Anna Lewington, the well-known writer on all things botanical, and leading wildlife photographer Edward Parker provide an illuminating and visually striking history of each tree species, including where the long-living species can still be found, the trees botanical details, and its mythical associations.