Trees: Of North America, Europe, the UK & Ireland

Roger Phillips

LOVING and appreciating the beauty of trees is not just the domain of professional dendrologists… trees are at the root of life on Earth. They help combat climate change, house wildlife, protect against floods and water pollution, produce oxygen, conserve rainwater, fight soil erosion and give us shade.

Humans’ love affair with trees and their life-enhancing gifts was given a massive boost in 1975 when acclaimed pioneering photographer and botanist Roger Phillips (pictured below) published his groundbreaking book, Trees in Britain, which provided accurate, close-up colour illustrations of trees along with their leaves, shoots, flowers, bark and fruits.

Phillips – who died in 2021 – was a well-known figure in the world of gardening. He wrote and presented two major six-part TV series on gardening for the BBC and Channel 4, and famed for his ebullient personality and trademark red glasses. Amongst many awards, he received an MBE for his work on London’s garden squares.

Fifty years after the publication of Trees, this stunning and eagerly anticipated new edition – with a foreword by gardener, author and broadcaster Roy Lancaster and an introduction by Phillips’ wife Nicky Foy – has been expanded and revised with over 1,000 full-colour photographs and an updated species index, cataloguing hundreds of trees found across North America, Europe, the UK and Ireland, from the familiar to the exotic.

A superb identification guide for both amateur enthusiasts and professional botanists, this spectacular book covers everything from the common oak to the elusive black poplar, and in settings as varied as woodlands, floodplains and your own back garden.

Phillips’ classic book has informed generations of nature lovers and as an added bonus in this updated and refreshed edition, each tree is illustrated in full detail – by leaf, flower, fruit, bark and mature tree shape – along with a unique Leaf Key Index featuring photographs of over 550 leaves, cross-referenced to the main text, plus line drawings of the trees for clear and easy identification.

The trees are also arranged alphabetically by Latin name, and the carefully curated profiles of each one features fascinating details such as descriptions of habitat, rarity, the distribution of each tree, and historical backgrounds. In total, the book provides details of over 650 tree species and cultivars, with 150 added to the 500 that appeared in the original edition, and there are 1,200 full-colour pictures, showcasing detailed visuals of leaves, flowers, fruits and tree structures.

And with two indexes of the latest botanical and common names, and current ecological information on endangered species providing insights into their conservation status and the efforts needed to protect them, this all-encompassing and essential photographic guide is a book to treasure forever and perfect inspiration for a new generation of tree lovers.
(Macmillan, hardback, £35)