Overleaf An Album of British Trees

About this book

An illustrated natural history of British native trees, by a celebrated botanical artist and her forester brother-in-law.

In this revised and updated edition of Overleaf, the botanical painter Susan Ogilvy and the eminent forester Richard Ogilvy introduce us to each of the native trees of the British Isles – and a number of non-native, but much cherished, naturalised species – via close and artful consideration of their leaves.

From water-loving alder to long-lived yew, Susan paints both the front and back of every tree's leaf or needle in exquisite, jewel-like detail, reproduced on the page at exactly life-size. Running parallel to Susan's paintings, Richard provides expert commentary on the natural history of the trees, the ecosystems they inhabit and the traditional uses of their timber, helping us identify each species in the wild while exploring the roles they have played and continue to play in our landscapes and communities.

As vivid and true to life as a book of freshly picked and pressed leaves, Overleaf will delight and inform tree-spotting beginners and seasoned naturalists alike.

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Biography

Susan Ogilvy's work has been shown at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, and the Kew Garden Gallery, London, amongst other places; it is included in several public and private collections, including Dr Shirley Sherwood's world-renowned collection of contemporary botanical paintings. She was awarded an RHS Gold Medal in 1997, and lives in rural Somerset.