Tree Day A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Arboreal Lives

About this book

An hourly guide that spotlights twenty-four trees as they root, flower, and host diverse forest life.

In this short book, treetop explorer Meg Lowman guides us through a global forest. Each chapter of Tree Day introduces a single tree during a single hour, highlighting twenty-four species from around the world.

In the dark of Yemen's night, it is too early to see the red sap from which the dragon's blood tree gets its name. But if we watch closely, we will see nocturnal geckos carry the trees' pollen in their snouts. Later, in the Pacific Northwest, we climb the world's tallest species, the coastal redwood. The morning fog is a reminder that redwoods absorb water through their roots and canopies, helping them survive such heights. The sun is already low in the sky on an autumn afternoon. Given the darkness of this New England forest, the sugar maple's leaves have stopped producing chlorophyll that converts light into energy-and green gives way to vivid crimson foliage. After many hours of boiling, the maple sap makes delicious maple syrup. As the sun sets in Mexico, we observe the origin of another treat, chocolate. The cocoa tree's flowers sprout along its trunk and branches, allowing easy access for tiny insects like midges that pollinate the tree and start the process of making delicious food for humans, monkeys, bats, and squirrels. By the end of our tree day, we will understand that trees are the silent caretakers of our planet, providing us with medicines, foods, machinery for making fresh water and oxygen, and more.

For each hour, celebrated artist Thibaud Hérem has depicted these trees with gorgeous pen and ink illustrations. Working together to narrate and illustrate these unique moments in time, Lowman and Herem have created an engaging read that is a perfect way to spend an hour or two – and a true gift for anyone who has ever looked up at a tree in wonder.

Contents

Preface
Artist's Note
A Few Notes on Structure and Scope

Midnight Fig (Worldwide)
1 AM Hairy Birch (Europe and Northern Asia)
2 AM Coachwood (Australia)
3 AM Dragon's Blood Tree (Yemen)
4 AM American Beech (North America)
5 AM Great Kapok (Central America, South America, West Africa)
6 AM Vedippala (India)
7 AM Red Mangrove (Central America, North America, West Africa)
8 AM Antarctic Beech (Australia)
9 AM Red Stinkwood (Africa)
10 AM Coastal Redwood (North America)
11 AM Giant Stinging Tree (Australia)
Noon New England Peppermint (Australia)
1 PM Cecropia (Central and South America)
2 PM Sugar Maple (North America)
3 PM Ribbon Gum (Australia, Introduced Elsewhere)
4 PM American Elm (North America)
5 PM Durian (Southeast Asia)
6 PM Cocoa Tree (Central and South America)
7 PM Ginkgo (East Asia, Introduced Elsewhere)
8 PM Red Meranti (Southeast Asia)
9 PM African Baobab (Africa, Introduced Elsewhere)
10 PM Cabbage Palm (North America)
11 PM Tornillo (South America)

Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Meg Lowman (also known as CanopyMeg) is a treetop explorer and forest conservationist. She is one of the world's first arbornauts and has climbed trees in over forty countries. Lowman is the executive director of the TREE Foundation and the founder of Mission Green, a project to build canopy walkways in the world's ten most endangered, high-biodiversity forests. Lowman has authored eleven books, including The Arbornaut and Life in the Treetops.

Thibaud Hérem is a French illustrator specialising in drawings with incredible hand-drawn detail. He has authored or illustrated several books, including Raising a Forest and The Story of Trees.