The Wonder of Trees
A Review by Dr. Jerry Flack
The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living.
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Atlas Obscura
Trees are one of the greatest wonders of the natural world. Forests and woodlands exist on every continent except Antarctica. Trees provide the oxygen we breathe. They preserve the soil by limiting erosion. They have been in existence for hundreds of millions of years and have played a significant role in the existence of humanity. Trees have provided the timber for construction and movement, including the transportation of foods, such as fruits and nuts, that contribute to the indispensable food sources of humankind. Some trees contribute to medicines. More than 58,000 tree species in the world offer beauty that is awe-inspiring. The majesty of coastal redwoods and the sweet fragrance of cherry blossoms speak to the spiritual gifts trees provide. Even as crucial as trees are to the survival of humanity, they are far too often taken for granted. Many of the world’s trees are threatened with extinction. Humans are not the only species to benefit from trees. Many diverse species of plants, insects, mammals, and birds need trees for their homes in order to survive.
Arboretum takes readers to many habitats and explorations of at least 150 of the world’s trees in the seven biomes where they flourish. Biomes are large natural communities of flora and fauna that have adapted to the particular environments where they dwell. Forests and woodlands exist in seven biomes around the globe. These biomes include boreal, temperate broadleaf, temperate conifer, Mediterranean, tropical dry, savanna, and tropical moist forests. A large world map guides readers to these crucial biomes.
The early homes of trees were in swampy, dense forests. The first trees appeared more than 350 million years ago and were giant fern-like plants.
What is a tree? Trees come in many shapes, ages, and sizes. Trees possess a crown, trunk, major and minor branches, and a root plate. Trunks grow in height and thickness each year. A tree’s rings. seen in a cross-section of its trunk, represent its annual growth. The bristle cone pine tree, believed to be the oldest tree, may exhibit four thousand rings. Tree trunks, such as the giant coast redwoods, can reach heights of 370 feet. The trunk supports the canopy or crown of trees that contains its leaves. A single mature oak tree may have 100,000 leaves in its crown. The trunk also supports branches that produce buds, leaves, flowers, and fruit. The most vital component of a tree is its root system. Roots anchor trees to the earth and soak up water and nutrients that are spread throughout the rest of the tree.
One of the most fascinating illustrated essays in Arboretum explains how trees communicate. Trees typically grow in woodlands and forests. Solitary trees are a rarity. Woodlands and forests are great communities of trees that are interconnected by an underground network of fungi called mycorrhizae that represent the meeting of tree roots and the soil. These great and often ancient networks are capable of allowing trees to alert others of diseases and insect attacks. Such signals allow trees to produce chemicals that protect themselves. Because so much of this tree activity occurs underground and is microscopic, there is little evidence of it at eye level. Yet every year signs of healthy mycorrhizae communications are found in the presence of toadstools, mushrooms, and truffles surrounding the ground level of trees.
A unique and especially engrossing tree “biography” may be discovered in the verbal and visual presentation of the baobab tree that grows only in the savanna regions of Africa. Baobab trees can live for a thousand years, making them the oldest known flowering trees in the world. The tree is referred to as the upside-down tree as its limited crown or canopy resembles a root system. Baobab trees have trunks of great width that resemble huge barrels. The bark is fire resistant. A hollow baobab trunk can provide shelter for up to 35 people. Even trees that appear dead can store up to 24,000 gallons of rainwater which allows them to survive extensive dry seasons. The pulp of its fruit, often called monkey bread, is rich in vitamin C and its calcium-rich leaves are eaten as vegetables. The baobab bark, leaves, and seeds are used medicinally. Some indigenous cultures believe baobab seeds have magical powers that ward off crocodile attacks. The generic name for the tree, Adansonia, honors the French explorer, Michel Adanson, who first saw a specimen during his travels in Senegal in 1749.
Among the many arbor habitats are gardens that are indeed more than hobbies. Over centuries, they have become an art form. Early gardens in Europe provided shelter, shade, and fruit. In the late seventeenth century, domestic gardens began to be created expressly for decoration. Garden trees produce values beyond mere beauty. Tree gardens reduce wind speeds, noise pollution, and reduce air pollution.
Gifted readers will be delighted to have an accessible “museum” in their own homes or classrooms. Arboretum is the newest volume in a series of giant-sized nonfiction books that simulate the experience of visiting museums devoted to erudite fields of knowledge such as archaeology, history, oceanography, geography, botany, zoology, paleontology, and astronomy.
Prior to publication of Arboretum, additional volumes in the Welcome to the Museum Series include Animalium (Jenny Broom, 2014), Botanicum (Kathy Willis, 2017), Dinosaurium (Lily Murray, 2018), Historium (Jo Nelson, 2015), Oceanarium (Loveday Trinick, 2022), and Planetarium (Raman Prinja, 2019). The series was first published in England. Each series volume is an extra-large book design (think world atlases) that is highly informative and beautifully illustrated. The creamy pages of the books are thick and handsomely inviting. The book-as-museum formatting is utilized in each series volume. A museum ticket invites readers into the museum where the preface and introductory material is labeled as the entrance. The authors and illustrators are referred to as curators and individual chapters are listed as galleries. The collection of end matter that includes an extensive index, biographical information about the curators, and additional resources is titled the museum library.
Home and School Activities
Arbor Facts. Encourage readers to fully explore Arboretum with a notebook at hand and create a tree fact journal of the 20 most impressive numbers they discover. One example: The largest rain forest in the world is the Amazon. It represents 45 percent of the world’s total tropical forest biome. It is home to at least 390 billion individual trees.
Create a Tree Biography. After young readers have learned about the lives of African baobab trees, invite them to explore similar tree Arboretum museum stories of such trees as the Douglas fir, three redwood species, yellow meranti, cork oak, and shagbark hickory. Ask them to choose any tree that fascinates them and use library and online resources to discover, compile, and assemble a “biography” of any tree of their choosing. Tree stories should be enriched with colorful illustrations by student author-illustrators.
Tree Puzzles. Arboretum readers learn early on that the world is home to 58,000 species of trees and that at least 150 of these trees are highlighted in this unique Welcome to the Museum visit. The book’s index is rich in the names of trees found on Earth. Encourage young gifted readers to create an original word search puzzle of tree names. Challenge middle and high school students to create their first-ever crossword puzzle that is complete with arbor clues and as many tree names as they can incorporate in the puzzle.
Postage Stamps and License Plates. Ask readers to name or discover the designated tree of their home state. Some examples include Alaska’s Sitka spruce, Utah’s quaking aspen, Rhode Island’s red maple, Hawaii’s candlenut (kukui), and Delaware’s American holly trees. Students can research their state tree and honor it with a painting of a proposed postage stamp or vehicle license plate.
Acrostic Tree Verse. Urge readers to survey the names of the wealth of trees found in many chapters (or museum galleries) and in the index. Again, encourage gifted students to use online and book resources to learn more about a chosen tree. Using the information gained, gifted students can write an acrostic poem about their special tree such as the following example that is a verse tribute to elm trees.
E Exquisite branches dressed in green
L Looking skyward toward the sun
M Magnificent natural beauty
Celebrate Arbor Day. Arbor days are held in countries all around the world. The primary activity for Arbor Day is the planting of new trees. Incredibly, the first documented Arbor Day was in the Spanish village of Mondoñedo in 1594. The first American Arbor Day was held in Nebraska on April 10, 1872, when one million trees were planted across the state in a single day. President Theodore Roosevelt was an early advocate of encouraging school children to plant trees. On April 15, 1907, he issued an Arbor Day Proclamation that children should plant trees and that forestry should be taught in U. S. schools. Encourage today’s students to carry on this great tradition. This year Arbor Day is April 26 on calendars in the U.S.
Kirkham, Tony. Arboretum: Welcome to the Museum. Illus. by Katie Scott. Somerville, MA: Big Picture Press, 2024.
