No mere dry, academic work, but a treasure trove of creativity, this is a meditation on the beauty and power of trees to delight all nature lovers.
What is the meaning of a tree? While at first glance this question seems rather obvious, Amy-Jane Beer explores the greater significance of these plants by tracing them throughout time and place.
The 366 trees – one for each day of the year, even in a leap year – are exposed as objects with a multitude of meanings – fidelity, fantasy and wellbeing to name but a few.
From the ancient Major
Oak of Sherwood Forest to the Chinese art of Penjing (miniature landscapes depicting artistically formed trees), the history of this taxonomic group is neatly condensed into a series of digestible snippets. We learn about the Tree of Hippocrates, the plane tree under which the Greek physician purportedly taught his pupils, and are treated to a kind of educational forestbathe on the growing conditions of red mangroves.
Not every entry comprises a detailed description of a botanical specimen, however. Interspersed with these accounts is a remarkable selection of poems, artworks and architecture that demonstrates how human experience is much more indebted to these plants than we might at first think. As a fine art lover, I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of artworks by Pissarro, Monet and Constable. The entry for 10 April on Monet’s Antibes in the Morning, in which the artist bathes the waterside saplings in a magical, orange light, is an especially beautiful take on the niche genre of tree art. Stunning tree-inspired art of the Arts and Crafts and Chinoiserie movements also features, with illustrations of William Morris’s Willow Bough design and the Willow pattern of English ceramics.
Whether you’re a general reader or an avid tree lover, Amy-Jane Beer’s meditative musings on nature’s greatest creations are sure to appeal, leaving you to ask the much more personal question of ‘What does a tree mean to you?’