“Not only are the essays as delightful as a tree budding in springtime, but the book itself is a walk in the park while sitting.”
—Karen Peterson, Climate Tucson

"Many books recount the lengths scientists go to study animals. 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. Finally!"
—Oliver Uberti, Atlas of the Invisible and Where the Animals Go

"Tree scientist Valerie Trouet has wrangled an extraordinary group of dendrochronologists from around the world to craft first-person accounts about ten essential trees. Readers will find endless fascinations and engaging personal stories between the covers of this beautiful book."
—Daniel Lewis, author of Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future

"Read this book and you will be touched! The knowledge you gain from these ten exquisitely crafted essays will be full of insight and full of wonder. For here, in ring after ring and story after story, are remarkable examinations of ancient trees and their unique histories. From the indomitable bristlecone pines to singular sequoias, and from phenomenal bald cypresses to commanding oaks, you will be captivated by each contributor's research, commitment, and, of course, passion. This is a book most difficult to put down; one engaging in its scope and embracing in its discoveries. It is, quite simply, an arboreal tour de force. Read it; become one with the trees!"
—Anthony D. Fredericks, author of In Search of the Old Ones: An Odyssey among Ancient Trees

"The essays from leading tree scientists collected in In the Circle of Ancient Trees read like fervent love letters to ten of the most ancient and important tree species on the planet...[A]we-inspiring...a hardy introduction to the uses and methods of dendrochronology."
—Foreword

Valerie Trouet is a professor in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona. She is a dendroclimatologist, using tree-rings to study the climate of the past and how it has influenced ecosystems and human history. In 2023, she was appointed the inaugural scientific director of the Federal Center of Expertise on Climate in Belgium. Professor Trouet is the author of Tree Story (Johns Hopkins), the winner of the World Wide Fund’s 2020 Jan Wolkers Prize, and the Gold Winner of the 2020 Foreword INDIES Award in Ecology & Environment. For this book, Valerie has collaborated with experts from around the world, each of whom has contributed an account of an ancient tree from their region.

Blaze Cyan is an artist working within the mediums of drawing, etching, woodcut, and wood engraving. She graduated from the City & Guilds of London Art School in 2014 with an M.A. in Fine Art. Blaze is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, a member of the Society of Wood Engravers, and also the Arborealists. Her subject area is landscapes and she has shown work with many leading art and printmaking societies. She is represented by the Eames Fine Art Gallery. She lives in London.

INTRODUCTION

1. GIANT SEQUOIA
Location: California, USA

2. BOSNIAN PINE
Pinus heldreichii
Location: Southeastern Europe—Mountains in the Balkan Peninsula and Southern Italy

3. CLANWILLIAM CEDAR
Widdringtonia cedarbergensis
Location: Cederberg Wilderness Area, South Africa

4. KAURI
Agathis australis (D.Don) Lindl.
Location: Upper North Island Te Ika a Mãui, Aotearoa New Zealand

5. BALD CYPRESS
Taxodium spp. (L.) Rich.
Location: Southeastern USA, Mexico, and Guatemala

6. PEDUNCULATE OAK
Quercus robur L.
Location: Most of Europe up to the southern Ural Mountains in the east

7. CEDRO
Cedrela odorata
Location: Central and South America and the Caribbean

8. QILIAN JUNIPER
Juniperus przewalskii Kom
Location: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

9. GREAT BASIN BRISTLECONE PINE
Pinus longaeva
Location: California, Nevada, Utah, USA

10. LAÑILAWAL
Fitzroya cupressoides
Location: Los Ríos and Los Lagos districts, Chile

GALLERY
FURTHER READING
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS