In search of the old ones An odyssey among ancient trees

In an engaging narrative written with awe and wonder, Fredericks (emer., education, York College of Pennsylvania) takes the reader across the US to appreciate ancient trees and the landscapes around them. Each of the ten trees and forests explored begins with stories from when a single seed sprouted, which may have been from 1,000 to 13,000 years ago, before returning to the present. Using interviews and quotes from dendrochronologists and other researchers and conservation groups working to protect ancient trees, Fredericks weaves a chronicle of how these trees and forests have come to be, what challenges they face now and in the future, and what inspirations or impact on the senses visiting these landmarks and testaments to time may have on a person. Eight chapters explore western forests, with their bristlecone pines, redwoods, sequoias, and trembling aspen, but other species are visited in the eastern US, including oaks and bald cypress. Fredericks includes many thought-provoking considerations throughout. An appendix catalogs several of the oldest trees in the world outside of the US. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels, but especially general readers. --Tara Lee Bal, Michigan Technological University

Fredericks (The Secret Life of Clams), a professor emeritus of education at York College of Pennsylvania, serves up pensive if rambling meditations on 10 species of trees that can live to be more than a thousand years old. Exploring the adaptations that contribute to the trees' longevity, he explains that California's redwoods evolved needle-like leaves capable of absorbing fog, which spares the trees from having to transport water 350 or so feet from their roots to their uppermost branches, and that bristlecone pines developed shallow roots to better "seize the scarce moisture" in California's White Mountains. Fredericks adorns the science with poetic flourishes, including scenes depicting what humans were doing around the time that some of the oldest existing trees sprouted. For example, he describes a Wanakipa teenager watching her mother collect shellfish for dinner around 10,979 BCE to emphasize the age of a 13,000-year-old colony of palmer's oak in Riverside County, Calif. The lack of an overall argument tying together the science, anecdotes about Fredericks seeking out the trees in their natural habitats, and dendrochronology methods makes this feel a bit meandering, but the author's reverence for his subjects endears ("Wise teachers, those redwoods"). The result is a ruminative exploration of some of the oldest living organisms on Earth. Illus. (Oct.)