The Book of Leaves: A Leaf-by-Leaf Guide to Six Hundred of the World's Great Trees

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Overview

Of all our childhood memories, few are quite as thrilling, or as tactile, as those of climbing trees. Scampering up the rough trunk, spying on the world from the cool green shelter of the canopy, lying on a limb and looking up through the leaves at the summer sun almost made it seem as if we were made for trees, and trees for us.Even in adulthood, trees retain their power, from the refreshing way their waves of green break the monotony of a cityscape to the way their autumn ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Of all our childhood memories, few are quite as thrilling, or as tactile, as those of climbing trees. Scampering up the rough trunk, spying on the world from the cool green shelter of the canopy, lying on a limb and looking up through the leaves at the summer sun almost made it seem as if we were made for trees, and trees for us.Even in adulthood, trees retain their power, from the refreshing way their waves of green break the monotony of a cityscape to the way their autumn transformations take our breath away. 

In this lavishly illustrated volume, the trees that have enriched our lives finally get their full due, through a focus on the humble leaves that serve, in a sense, as their public face. The Book of Leaves offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most impressive and beautiful leaves from around the world. Each leaf is reproduced here at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by an explanation of the range, distribution, abundance, and habitat of the tree on which it’s found. Brief scientific and historical accounts of each tree and related species include fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden its portrait. 

The Henry’s Maple, for instance, found in China and named for an Irish doctor who collected leaves there, bears little initial resemblance to the statuesque maples of North America, from its diminutive stature to its unusual trifoliolate leaves. Or the Mediterranean Olive, which has been known to live for more than 1,500 years and whose short, narrow leaves only fall after two or three years, pushed out in stages by the emergence of younger leaves.

From the familiar friends of our backyards to the giants of deep woods, The Book of Leaves brings the forest to life—and to our living rooms—as never before.

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Editorial Reviews

Chicago Tribune

"Clearly, I have lost my head and am swooning under the spell of The Book of Leaves. This big, beautiful, shiny, sumptuous, and informational volume will enhance your appreciation of the natural world, but it does something else as well. It reminds you that wonderful things are often right under your nose. . . . It needs to be spread out on a kitchen table, preferably with a couple of kids hovering nearby, so that yuo can all marvel at the colors and shapes that have been here all along, hidden in plain sight."

— Julia Keller

New York Times
"Meticulously illustrated. . . . Coombes’s five-pound compendium . . . gets my vote for the book I’d be most likely to take on a hike in the woods, provided I had a pack animal.”

— Jennifer Schuessler

New York Times Book Review
“A handsome guide. . . . The oaks alone will occupy you for days.”—New York Times Book Review, Best Books of the Year
Best Books of the Year
“A handsome guide. . . . The oaks alone will occupy you for days.”

— New York�Times Book�Review

Chicago Tribune - Julia Keller
"Clearly, I have lost my head and am swooning under the spell of The Book of Leaves. This big, beautiful, shiny, sumptuous, and informational volume will enhance your appreciation of the natural world, but it does something else as well. It reminds you that wonderful things are often right under your nose. . . . It needs to be spread out on a kitchen table, preferably with a couple of kids hovering nearby, so that yuo can all marvel at the colors and shapes that have been here all along, hidden in plain sight."
New York Times - Jennifer Schuessler
"Meticulously illustrated. . . . Coombes’s five-pound compendium . . . gets my vote for the book I’d be most likely to take on a hike in the woods, provided I had a pack animal.”
Best Books of the Year - New York�Times Book�Review
“A handsome guide. . . . The oaks alone will occupy you for days.”
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780226139739
  • Publisher: University of Chicago Press
  • Publication date: 11/1/2010
  • Pages: 656
  • Sales rank: 429,499
  • Product dimensions: 7.40 (w) x 10.90 (h) x 1.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Allen J. Coombes is botanist at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum in Hampshire, England, and the author of many books about plants and trees. Zsolt Debreczy, is research Director of the International Dendrological Research Institute in Boston.

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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 4, 2012

    This is basically a 600 world tree database put into a textbook

    This is basically a 600 world tree database put into a textbook reference form. It is limited to 600 trees, not all of the world's trees are in it. It does offer some information about tree leaves and structure such as anatomy information. It shows leaf struture, common and scientic name with both indexes, a map of tree location/origination. Sometimes, the text comes across as incomplete because it does not give a full list of information of similar species (or subspecies) of the same Genus. Sometimes the common names are more in-depth and difficult to find in the index. What would have made this a better resource for botanists, would have been to include a CDRom disc so that this could be put on a hard drive or similar, with the ability to add more information, species and leaf images to it, etc. Yet, this is overall a helpful text as it makes tree identification through leaves quite helpful with an early summary on pages 33-41. It is simple enough to read for most levels making it a great reference textbook on the subject.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

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