A Natural History of Conifers Hardcover – May 15, 2008

I came into possession of this book in the strangest way ... but I'm so glad I did! I asked a botanist for a book that would help me with tree systematics (identifucation) and this book was recommended. It was a little strange to make the purchase, because i was really looking for info on oak and birch trees. And secondly, it just so happened ... that i had found some very unique conifer trees on the tops of the southern Andes mountains, and i really wanted to identify them. So what the heck, i bought the book. What a pleasure, when it arrived!! Author Aljos Farjon has done a terrific job of describing conifer trees, how they have evolved and changed over time, and how the various aspects of their biology ... produce the tree that is standing in front of you today. Furthermore, the book is very readable, and the color plates are high quality. i was encouraged to discover that I could identify which Family 'my tree' in the Andes belonged to ... it didnt take long at all. This book is Highly Recommended if you have an interest in conifers, tree identification, tree biology ... or you just love trees. Big thanks to the author!

This book fills a gap in the popular literature on conifers: there's really a strong need for a comprehensive review of the natural history of conifers. But if that's what you are looking for, you will be disappointed here. Still, this volume has some strengths.Some of the high points of this text: (1) There a many photos of species where it is difficult to find good photographs; most notably of the Southern hemisphere species. It is almost worth keeping the book on my shelves just for the "tree porn". (2) Again, it is really the Southern species where this book really provides new details. If you are looking for a work that discusses the new finds in Indo-China or New Caledonia this is a book not to be missed.Where I was disappointed: (1) Most notably, this book is in dire need of editorial coherence. It reads mostly like a collection of magazine articles that have been very lightly reshaped into a thematic structure. This book really would have benefited from a more disciplined analytic structure. (2) I really wanted to see more sustained discussion of the evolutionary linkages of the conifers--especially in reference to Northern hemisphere species. There's bits and pieces here (even chapters with titles that look like they will provide the sustained analysis that I'm looking for) but the discussions are just so scattered as to be frustrating.In short, this is the type of book that you can open up at almost any point and start reading--and that's not necessarily a good thing. Again, I really wanted to like this book more than I did.

I bought this book through my interest in paleobotany.I have read Beck's classic on gymnosperm evolution so this did not add much from this point of view nor fossil wise.But I was fascinated by the use of pylogeny and morphology as against pure genetic studies which rule the day elsewhere.In conifers they just have not worked as yet!And perhaps this is a good thing.More and more botanists are criticising the laborotory pundits who don't even know what the plant they are studying the genes of looks like!Field work like that of the author is very impressive and was in days gone by ,de riguer!So much can be gleaned from the simple contact with the plants.Touch and observation are far from obsolete.I would like to have known a bit more about araucariaceae in the nothern hemisphere continent of Laurasia.We are not told that it was a species close to Araucaria heterophylla that occured in this area.Any others?Wollemia,Agathis?But otherwise an excellent book written with and from great passion!A few spelling mistakes though which is most unlike this publisher.

I really enjoyed reading the book. Packed with useful and interesting information. Very informative.

An excellent book for the botanist interested in conifers and their relationships with other organisms - interesting and well written by a most knowledgeable author.

As a plant nerd, I love succulents for their easy care and maintenance. This book is great for identification and care.

THE book on conifers!

Beautiful Reference book for the "coffeetable"

It's targeted at wide audience of readers, so you do not need to be an expert in botany or something, but it is not a light reading either. It gives broad overview of the subject. Contains a lot of illustrations. Quality of book itself is superb, so it can be a nice present.

Wetenschappelijk en toch toegankelijk dankzij de vertellende stijl van de auteur, een wereldautoriteit wat naaldbomen betreft. Hoewel de focus toch wel wat ligt op zijn specialiteit, de taxonomie, komen diverse aspecten aan bod. Ingedeeld in niet te lange hoofdstukken om het behapbaar te maken en voorzien van prachtige kleurenfoto's maar ook schitterende zwartwit-illustraties van o.a. de auteur zelf. Een aanrader.

Well balanced between a scientific text and a text for those keen on conifers.

A great book for anyone with even the smallest interest in trees. A must have for botanists.

This is the key book on conifers for the general reader who wants some authoritative depth.Farjon is Kew Gardens' chief conifer wonk, so he knows his stuff and this book benefits because of it. Some parts proved rather stodgey for my tastes, the in's and out's of high level classification are clearly his professional passion. I found these sections heavy going as we got further and further into the clades. Fine if you like that sort of thing.Fascinating to me and broached well enough here, amongst other aspects, is the epic grandeur of the conifers' stately progress around the world during the last two hundred million years. Their heyday was clearly in the Jurassic and Cretaceous 'hot-house' world, even though today's conifers can cheerfully hack the coldest weather, i.e. the firs and larches and spruces. Farjon makes an interesting case for there having been only a relatively recent decline in diversity through the conifer ranks, but compared with the upstart angiosperms with their fancy flowers and ribald genetics, there's good reason to treasure what remains of the gymnosperms.And don't you go thinking that Redwoods and Monkey Puzzles are out of place here in old Blighty; over the millenia they've swept their way magnificently around the hemispheres - they'd just temporarily ended up in the Americas. It's sad to have to accept that several conifer genera now only sport one single surviving member, usually washed up in some out-of-the-way spot (mountaintop Asia, or by the coast on a Gondwanan shore - Chile, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Australia) and clinging on bravely through thick and thin.Thick - being of course - us. Modern humans have gone on a mindless rampage, trashing ecosystems one by one, trying to disguise the ruins by calling it 'development'. It's horribly clear that when you believe your own publicity and really do start to think that the Sun, Moon, and the Stars all shine out of your backside, then down come the forests and stately groves of towering Redwoods, Araucarias, Kauris and Cedars and on come sheep, soya, shopping malls and soil erosion.But it's not all bad news. While he is distinctly sniffy about it, Farjon does cover the Wollemi Pine discovery in 1994, which is a resolutely Good-News story. What Farjon refuses to tell you, consult James Woodford's superb book for the wonderful wollemi pine saga. It's a ripper! And then there are other recondite trees which have been lovingly brought back from the brink of winking out: Gingko (not actually a conifer), the Dawn Redwood, the Golden Larch (not actually a larch) and the spanking 'new' Golden Cypress from Vietnam - all equally inspiring with their long histories and gradual confinements to retirement homes in back-water locales.My favourite has to be the enigmatic Umbrella Pine (although it's NOT a pine!). Sciadopitys verticillata is the only one of its kind, the last of the breed, and has travelled the world bestriding the continents to fetch up now on the rocky slopes of Japan. An old codger with a hundred million years plus under its belt, this beautiful tree gamely "endeavours to persevere", sprouting out of unpromising soils on shuddering volcanic islands, old and wise and hoping mad humans won't notice it.Chipboard and toilet paper are such an undignified end for a venerable gymnosperm.