by Max Adams
maple: field 50, 61, 159; sweet 63, 157
matai 211
Matsya Purana (Hindu text) 27
May flowers 167
Mirkwood (in Tolkien) 210
Morgawr (boat) 135
NECTAR 73; acacia 86
neglect and deforestation 68–9, 81
needles 37, 89, 90, 110, 150
New Zealand, trees of 209–12
Northumberland 28, 112, 189; ancient woods of 217, 221–2; see also Ashington
Northumbria 195, 197, 221
OAK 18, 60, 66, 67, 84, 106, 130; 201–5, 203, 208, 230, 239; in construction 202–3; and national identity 204–5; pedunculate / sessile distinction 202
oilairë (in Tolkien) 209
‘Oswald’s tree’ 23
PAPER 230; birch bark as 32
persimmon 144
pine 66, 98, 198; bristlecone 208; Corsican 40; Monterey 211; Norfolk Island 40, 123; Scots 63–4, 109–13, 111, 126, 188, 189, 239
plane tree: London 80, 83; occidental 213, 230; oriental 21
plantations 101, 112, 231–2
planting trees 27–9, 68–71, 228–9, 250
podocarps 210–11
poison 74–5, 84, 86, 90, 184
pollen and pollination 54–5, 62–3, 73
Poolewe (Inverewe) Gardens 40
poplar 24, 64; Southern 24; white 25
Preston Park Twins (elms) 224
RACKHAM, Oliver 218, 240
rainforests 94–8
rata tree 210
redwood 160
Reformers’ Attack on the Old Rotten Tree, The (cartoon) 26–7
roots 20, 38, 41, 42, 57, 69–70, 81, 156, 157, 163; beech 147; birch and maple 63; in boreal forests 95; elm 224; rata tree 210; Scots pine 110
Rose, Walter 205, 242
roundhouses 192–4, 243
rowan 48–51, 49, 66, 239; oldest 48; tallest 48
SAP 58, 59, 63, 78
Seahenge 178–80
seeds and germination 47, 54, 59–62, 220; acacia 86; apple 72, 74–5; ash 60, 243; balsam 153; birch 30, 32, 60, 63; elm 222, 224; eucalyptus 61; rock whitebeam 107; rowan 48; Scots pine 64, 112; sycamore 18; yew 90
Selwood 221
shaving horse 137
Sherwood Forest 221
spindle 117, 155, 157
spring 20, 30, 32, 55, 56–9, 144, 220, 222
spruce 58, 198, 233; German 124; Norway 231; Sitka 231
sticks, interesting uses of 22–3, 56, 117–22
storms and storm damage 19, 57, 79–81, 147, 150, 163
summer 20, 58, 64, 136–7, 156
sustainability 199, 228–35, 236–7, 246, 249–50
swamp gum 160
sycamore 18, 20, 61, 67, 138, 139, 230; American 212, 230
TAIGA forests 94, 95
Tane Mahuta (kauri) 210
teak 215
Teredo navalis (wood-boring worm) 215, 217
Thetford Forest 112
Thoreau, Henry David 35, 100, 234, 242, 246
thorns and prickles 81–2
threats to trees 78–81, 98; see also drought; neglect; storms; wind
Tien Shan apple groves (Kazakhstan) 72, 73
tree ageing 180, 208
tree defences 81–6
tree evolution 44–7
tree hydraulics 155–7, 160–4
Tree of Liberty (1765) 24
Tree of Liberty (poem by Burns) 24–5
Tree Register of Great Britain and Ireland 33, 67
tree reproduction 54–6, 59–61
tree shelters 70
trees and balance 161–4
trees and death 23–4, 167;
see also coffins
trees and engineering 141–3, 151–5
trees and light 37–44; photosynthesis 41–4
trees and place-names 23, 32, 89, 103, 106, 146, 164, 184, 204, 218–20, 221
trees and politics 24–7, 202
trees in art 16–17, 26–7
trees in literature 24, 27, 29, 87, 180–1, 209–10, 211, 246–8
Tudge, Colin 10, 240
Tuley, Graham 70
WALDEN Pond see Thoreau
walnut tree 84, 85
Weald, Forest of the 181, 221
Went, Fritz 150
Wessex: Anglo-Saxon 28, 108, 221; Hardy’s 247
whitebeam 18, 58, 66, 68, 70, 72, 105; Arran 106; Catacol 106–7; rock 106, 107
wind and trees 79–80;
see also storms
willow 66, 189, 191
windlass 153, 155
winter 19, 29, 37, 56, 57, 64, 68, 79, 96, 183, 199, 220, 238–40
woodcraft: boats and ships 88, 134, 135, 200, 212–15; Bronze Age 134–5, 138, 179; buildings 102–3; 104; 188–94, 203–4, 248; and Industrial Revolution 215–17; Jimmy Carter’s 143–4; medieval 102–6, 200–1; Mesolithic 189–90; Neolithic 134, 138–41; spoons 67; and Stonehenge 141–3; stringed instruments 124–6; surnames from 108; weapons 87, 88, 90, 118, 119; the wheel 154; see also lathe
woodland flowers 58, 220
woodland identification 217–22
woodland living 99–102, 112, 246, 249
woodland management 58–9, 229, 249–50; buying a wood 230–2; hazel as teacher 128; in medieval period 103–4, 107–9; see also coppicing
Woodlanders, The (novel by Hardy) 27, 246–8
woodsmanship 56–9; log splitting 134, 136–7; see also coppicing; planting; woodland management; see also individual seasons and tools
woody plants (tracheophytes) 45–6
World Tree 24, 242
XYLEM 46
YEW 89–90, 91, 208
Ygdrassil 24, 242
About this Book
Trees are marvels of nature. They are the earth’s lungs, climate-regulators and habitat-protectors. Ever since our prehistoric ancestors emerged from the forests of a drying Africa, trees have given us shelter, medicine, shade, food and fuel in abundance.
In an eclectic and beautifully written sequence of reflections, investigations, stories and tree profiles, Max Adams explores both the extraordinary biology of trees and humanity’s relationship with wood and forest across the centuries. He reveals why birch bark makes the best fire-lighter; why the fruits of the rowan must pass through a bird’s gut before its seeds can germinate; and how the wood of the venerable yew tree ensured that the English prevailed at Agincourt.
Embellished with images from the 1776 edition of John Evelyn’s arboreal classic Sylva, The Wisdom of Trees will delight anyone who cares about the natural world and our interaction with it.
Reviews
The King in the North
‘A triumph. The most gripping portrait of 7th-Century Britain that I have read... A Game of Thrones in the Dark Ages.’
The Times
‘The author has an engaging way with words, you feel personally guided in the quest.’
Newcastle Chronicle
‘In his handsome biography, Adams makes a powerful case for Oswald as the man who conceived a Northumbrian golden age.’
Newcastle Journal
‘A superb biography... a wonderfully vivid portrayal of early medieval England.’
The Hexham Courant
‘Max Adams’ The King in the North… pulls off the feat of providing a gripping, panoramic portrait of seventh-century Britain without cutting corners’
History Today
‘Max Adams is to be lauded for an engagingly populist and evocative book’
Literary Review
‘The King in the North, biographer Max Adams’ fascinating insight into the life of King Oswald after who the Oswestry is named... sold out on Wednesday.’
Shropshire Star
About the Author
MAX ADAMS is a critically acclaimed biographer and archaeologist and the author of Admiral Collingwood, The Prometheans and The King in the North. A teacher of woodland and tree histories, he manages an area of woodland in County Durham.
Also by this Author
&n
bsp; The King in the North
A charismatic leader, a warrior whose prowess in battle earned him the epithet Whiteblade, an exiled prince who returned to claim his birthright, the inspiration for Tolkein’s Aragorn.
Oswald of Northumbria was the first great English monarch, yet today this legendary figure is all but forgotten. In this panoramic protrait of Dark Age Britain, archaeologist and biographer Max Adams returns the king in the North to his rightful place in history.
The King in the North is available here.
Jump to free preview here.
Coming soon:
Admiral Collingwood: Nelson’s Own Hero
Admiral Lord Collingwood, the eldest son of a Newcastle merchant, went to sea in 1761 at the age of thirteen. In his nearly fifty years in the Navy he rose to become a fine seaman, a master of gunnery, a battle commander the equal of his friend – and rival in love – Nelson. He was also an accomplished writer and wit, a doting father, inveterate gossip and consummate diplomat and strategist.
Collingwood’s service took him to Boston, where he lived and fought during the American War of Independence; to Antigua, where he and Nelson both fell in love with Mary Moutray; to Corsica; Sicily; and Menorca, where he began as a young midshipman and ended his career as the effective viceroy of the Mediterranean.
Admiral Collingwood is an intimate portrait of a forgotten British naval hero and a thrilling portrait of the glory years of the age of sail.
Admiral Collingwood is available here.
A Letter from the Publisher
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The story starts here.
First published in 2014 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Max Adams 2014
Jacket: James Nunn
Author photograph © Kona McPhee
The moral right of Max Adams to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (HB) 9781781855461
ISBN (E) 9781781855454
Print book designed by Ken Wilson | point918
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