In the Circle of Ancient Trees

Our Oldest Trees and the Stories They Tell

Valerie Trouet, Blaze Cyan

• Publisher: Greystone Books
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781421443744, 9781421437774
• eBook ISBN: 9781778402692
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

“In these exquisitely illustrated pages, we hear from ten explorers who clamber down cliffs, traverse bogs, and dodge killer bees to study the world’s greatest plants.”—Oliver Uberti, author of Atlas of the Invisible and Where the Animals Go

From the Giant Sequoia to the Bald Cypress, this captivating book explores the stories of 10 species of ancient trees, their unique environments, and what they have to tell us about the history of our world.

Ingrained and encrypted in the growth rings of every tree are stories of its environment and the events to which it bore witness. In the Circle of Ancient Trees presents the stories of ten ancient tree varieties in engrossing chapters written by ecologists with specialist knowledge. From the Bosnian pine to the giant sequoia, from the United States, to Europe, to South America, these essays explore how human and environmental history share common roots, while drilling down into the ecology, persistence, and resilience of trees.

Beautifully designed, and illustrated with wood-engravings and graphics that visualize each tree’s chronology and geography, In the Circle of Ancient Trees considers what lessons for our future might be discovered in our planet’s past.

Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• One. Giant Sequoia
• Two. Bosnian Pine
• Three. Clanwilliam Cedar
• Four. Kauri
• Five. Bald Cypress
• Six. Pedunculate Oak
• Seven. Cedro
• Eight. Qilian Juniper
• Ninegreat. Basin Bristlecone Pine
• Ten. Lañilawal
• Gallery
• Further Reading
• Index
• Acknowledgments