The Secret Life Of Trees

PENGUIN BOOKS THE SECRET LIFE OF TREES ‘The best nature writing’ The Times ‘Page after page of astonishing tree-facts … makes us look anew at the familiar, to understand a little more of the hidden and constantly enacted miracles taking place in the woods all around us’ Sunday Times ‘Tudge’s delight in the world of trees is infectious’ Herald ‘Set to become a classic reference in the mould of Oliver Rackham’s History of the Countryside’ BBC Wildlife ‘Tudge’s gift as an author lies in being able to explain complex scientific mechanisms in language that the rest of us can understand’ Anna Pavord, Independent, Books of the Year ‘Magnificent, a minor classic … even the most knowledgeable connoisseur of nature will feel themselves in the hands of a witty and erudite guide … probably the best general purpose book on the subject published in the last decade’ Oldie ‘Inspiring, a reawakening’ Scotsman ‘Reminds us just what we spend our lives not knowing, and all of it is not only wondrous and important but entirely free’ Guardian ‘A love-letter to trees, written with passion and scientific rigour … a pleasure to read. Tudge writes with warmth and wit’ Financial Times ABOUT THE AUTHOR Colin Tudge started his first tree nursery in his garden aged eleven, becoming an accomplished Cacti grower by the age of eighteen and marking his life-long interest in trees. Always interested in plants and animals, he studied zoology at Cambridge and then began writing about science, first as features editor at the New Scientist and then as a documentary maker for the BBC. Now a full-time writer, he appears regularly as a public speaker, particularly for the British Council and is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and visiting Research Fellow at the Centre of Philosophy at the London School of Economics. His books include The Variety of Life: A Survey and Celebration of All the Creatures that have Ever Lived and So Shall we Reap. The Secret Life of Trees brings together Colin Tudge’s knowledge of trees and his fascination with them, built up from trips to the rainforest in Costa Rica, Panama and Brazil, to his time in India, Australia, New Zealand, China, the United States… and his own back garden. He is unable to choose a favourite tree, believing that variety’s the thing. COLIN TUDGE The Secret Life of Trees How They Live and Why They Matter PENGUIN BOOKS To my grandchildren PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England www.penguin.com First published by Allen Lane 2005 Published in Penguin Books 2006 Copyright © Colin Tudge, 2005 Illustrations copyright © Dawn Burford All rights reserved The moral right of the author has been asserted Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without