Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees

by Jared Farmer

The epic story of the planet’s oldest trees and the making of the modern world
 
Humans have always revered long-lived trees. But as historian Jared Farmer reveals in Elderflora , our veneration took a modern turn in the eighteenth century, when naturalists embarked on a quest to locate and precisely date the oldest living things on earth. The new science of tree time prompted travelers to visit ancient specimens and conservationists to protect sacred groves. Exploitation accompanied sanctification, as old-growth forests succumbed to imperial expansion and the industrial revolution.
 
Taking us from Lebanon to New Zealand to California, Farmer surveys the complex history of the world’s oldest trees, including voices of Indigenous peoples, religious figures, and contemporary scientists who study elderflora in crisis. In a changing climate, a long future is still possible, Farmer shows, but only if we give care to young things that might grow old.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, History, Natural History, Environment, Plants

448 pages, Hardcover

First published October 18, 2022

Reviews

[Ryan Wyllie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked this book out, I was hoping for a Bill Bryson-esque history of long-lived plants. I was quickly disabused of that idea. While I learned a decent amount about how megaflora and elderflora can persist for millennia, the organization of this book is undoubtably its biggest weakness. The scheme with which the book opens up (a long-lived plant per section) is quickly abandoned for idea-based thematic organization which bundles multiple plants together within a section only to abandon them and then return to them five sections later. Even within sections the text can wander extensively. In one of the later chapters, within the span of three pages, the author touches on bristlecone pine research efforts in Nevada, a critique of “publish or perish”, conceptual chronological artwork, and Jeff Bezos.

Farmer is an academic and one who sometimes values the use of buzzwords and ~flowery~ language over conciseness and clarity. At times, he comes off as cynical and can be a bit too “trigger-happy” when it comes to labeling things as racist or white supremacist (if you can’t appreciate the shrubby Southwestern plant called greasewood, you’re apparently racist). I’m glad the author discusses the legacies of racism and colonialism in the context of natural history, but to me such flippant use of these terms cheapens their gravity.

Authorial style and organization aside, I still managed to get enough out of this book to give it four stars instead of three. When the author discusses the botanical side of natural history, the book becomes quite enjoyable. I have a greater appreciation for olive trees, sequoias, kauri, ahuehuetes, quaking Aspens (shoutout Pando), and the plant world at large after reading this book. The section on Edmund Schulman, bristlecone pines, and dendrochronology is particularly good. To top it all off, Farmer’s blend of scientifically-grounded realism and historically-grounded hope in discussions of climate change resonated with me.

I’d recommend this book to friends, but be aware that the first ~40% is rough.

[Ryan Schumacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am something of a Jared Farmer fanboy. I loved Trees in Paradise: A California History. One of its effects on me was that it made me consider how folks where I lived at the time, Texas, related to certain tree species there. I suspect Farmer and other readers found similar inspiration, because Eldeflora could be described as a truly global version of Trees in Paradise, as it details historical relationships with iconic tree species (very old ones—elderflora-and very big ones, megaflora) on every inhabited continent. The great part about this is that I learned so many new things—Trees in Paradise taught me to consider a familiar place in a new way, but for the most part, Elderflora opened up a whole new world to me. He also quite successfully integrates up-to-date trends in historical writing and strikes a balance in writing about climate change that is both honest but not entirely hopeless. This is no mean feat.

But with the greater breadth comes a slight sacrifice of depth, and a few sections seemed hurried. And while an impressive breadth of primary sources in multiple languages is cited, I wonder why so little secondary literature is cited. Did Farmer not find any relevant secondary literature related to his sections on New Zealand, the UK, Germany, China, etc.? Like many environmental historians (e.g., Dan Flores), Farmer shows much influence from writers of environmental nonfiction outside the academy. This is fine, of course ( I read a lot of these books myself, and nodded in recognition when I saw the influence of Elizabeth Rush, et al.), and it’s nice to see academic historians aim for a large audience. However, there are times where narrative techniques like inserting himself into the story don’t mesh perfectly with the more “straight” history.

Despite these fairly minor criticisms, though, I do believe this is an excellent book, and Farmer should be recognized as one of the best environmental historians writing today.

[Abdulrahman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book as my introduction to the world of Botany. I think it was too early.

Still, it was informative, and the cultural aspects accompanying the elderflora were interesting to read, especially the more contemporary ones.

Trees are fascinating, in all their aspects.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has such a promising and compelling introduction. I wrote down several deep phrases and new words covering his thoughts on time and how it relates to trees.

But the book just spirals for me after that. Each chapter is a meandering series of quasi-related sections. The thread is hard to maintain and the dates, places and tree jargon is so dense, it’s hopeless to keep up. I also firmly believe books like this need sketches of the trees being discussed.

If you’re well, I mean wellll-versed in dendrology, this will be illuminating. For the rest of us, nope.

[Reed Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific book overall, though I found the overall structure to be a bit confusing, and the writing overly academic at times.

As a life long plant lover, I am fascinated especially with trees, and had the opportunity to visit a stand of ancient bristlecone pines 15 years ago in Great Basin National Park. This book captures the magic, mystery and reverence of these ancient trees, whose lives span generations of human history.

Elderflora are the opposite of our consumer capitalist society, which seeks to break things and institute revolutionary change in all aspects of life, including global ecology. Elderflora tell us that life and survival are much more than this. Elderflora will exist long after fossil fuel capitalism. We would be wiser to pay more attention to the lessons they teach, rather than being swept up in our own hubris as a supposedly wise species.

The section on churchyard yews seemed like an academic article sliced into the book and didn’t flow well from the first section. Also I am not that into British history. Otherwise, I found the book to be fascinating, timely and thoughtful.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Mum & I Enjoy Looking & Studying Trees in our local Wood on our daily Walks & This Book Gave us further insight into them, Highly Recommended!
(Thanks to Net Galley for this Book.)

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thoughtful, spiritual almost, history of trees and the study of them. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Sean McLennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a proud dendrophile, this book immediately called me at the Boulder used bookstore by the dramatic cover photo of a twisted Pinus longaeva. Elderflora takes the reader on a thorough examination of ancient trees around the globe and how humanity has revered (or not, which seems to be a common theme). Farmer travels the map to churchyard yews on the English Isles, Buddhist bodhi figs, gingkos in China, Lebanese cedars, Kaori in New Zealand, and many more, including of course, the painful history of the bristlecones that were killed in California’s White Mountains in the name of science. Along with the geographic voyaging, Farmer also goes into an incredible breadth of historical context that puts cultural thinking and resource usage into perspective.

While beautifully written and inspiring, Farmer’s globetrotting and century-skipping narrative were at times confusing and hard to keep up with. But I guess when you’re dealing with millenium-old organisms and a wealth of information, it can be hard to cohesively organize. However, Elderflora is a wealth of botanical and anthropologic history woven into an academic style work that inspires us to take care for the future.

[Sarak77 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like reading, I like trees, I like reading books about trees, and I enjoyed this one because it really illuminated how we know what we know. The history of dendrochonology, first developed to support a theory about sun spots is particularly interesting. The book is also a painful read at times; many acts of stupidity and destruction are chronicled. I remember as a child marvelling at the cross section of sequoia, complete with timeline of British history, in the Science museum in London. I never questioned how it got there.

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

very long book

[Clare Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I think ahead to the next new world, after fossil fuel capitalism, when gardens must grow in our ruins."

If you glory in the majesty of trees, this is a book for you. The history of human use and misuse of the world's biggest and oldest tree species (not always the same) and individual ancient trees.

It also covers the history of dendrochronology - the science of dating trees. And the difficulties of dating trees like Yews because they hollow out with age. Originally trees were killed to count the rings, but increment borers now allow the tree to live. Except in the 1950s when a graduate student decided his increment borer was too difficult to use on the sculptural growth of Bristlecone pines and felled the oldest tree on record...

Because tree rings change size depending on the local climate of each year, scientists can now study how climate change is affecting these trees at a species and individual level

Among Bristlecone pines in the White Mountains, "temperature, not CO2, is the controlling factor, and that this recent growth spurt - confined to the upper tree line - has no precedent in nearly four thousand years."

The trees is this book are spectacular, what we've done to them over millenia is abjectly appalling.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting book that addresses the human relationship to old and big trees as much as the trees themselves. Wide-ranging historical perspective that covers some science and deep time, while focusing more on the human history of tree science and the psychology/philosophy of why we keep looking for the oldest living tree (and why we keep killing them). My one note to potential readers is that if you get stuck early in the book, skip the introduction and start with chapter 1. The intro does some important stage-setting, but also includes more academicese than the rest of the book - almost like it's the justification for being able to put a mostly popular reading book onto his academic CV.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biological history and cultural traditions that surround Earth’s most cherished trees put time in a rarely conceived perspective. Jared Farmer, who also wrote Trees in Paradise: The Botanical Conquest of California, thinks in long time. In Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees , his latest book, Farmer brings the reader into the long now, raising our gaze to a time horizon where we see trees, old trees especially, in deeper relation to our own existense. Of long-lived trees, Farmer writes, “They are hyperlocals, ultraterrestrials, and supermortals all at once … They allow a story in which time operates at multiple speeds at once—the speeds of geology, evolution, and history.”
Without directly anthropomorphizing trees, he forces us to imagine what it would be like to witness humanity’s progress, failings and hubris from their majestic view of our carryings on in what we call civilization. As barometers of our evolution and prospects for survival, ancient trees stand as the ultimate judges of humankind’s takeover of the planet, meting out justice with indifference to the short lived and everlasting upheavals.

Each chapter of Elderflora shifts between the micro (hyperlocal plants and their ecosystems), the meso (empires, states, nations, bioregions), and the macro (the biosphere). The first chapter introduces us to the antiquated practice of forest regicide, where the largest specimens, the forest royalty, being most coveted, are summarily cut down. It’s one of many examples in the book of our hubris being revealed through the lens of old growth flora. Of our species' need to get right with our habitat, Farmer writes, “With geological power comes epochal responsibility-the duty of long-term thinking. This is the problem of our time, a problem of time, even as attention spans get shorter and shorter.” And, “Climate change is time, changed. Short-term decisions made—or postponed—may linger for millennia. Throwaway choices, in the aggregate, may have permanent evolutionary consequences. Over million-year cycles, rocks will record modernity in technofossils, as well as fossil absences that mark extinctions.” Elderflora is a meditation on time.

While the book is dense with philosophical foreboding and somber millennia-scale rumination, it is also chock full of interesting scientific trivia and historical perspective. Here are just a few of the many tidbits: the science of dating trees via core samples enabled the calibration of radio carbon dating that now allows us to know the relative age of rocks and fossils; the oldest trees for many generations to come are alive today; the world’s oldest known tree is 4,700 years old, but the oldest tree root system could be well over 10,000 years old.

If you are an amateur botanist, occasional citizen scientist, or an aspiring interpretive naturalist, this homage to old trees will fascinate and challenge you. If you know someone who is not already humbled in the presence of old growth trees, get them to read this one book. Please.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read Elderflora the first time I saw it but, I did not get around to reading it for awhile. For me I found some parts of it hard to read but, then some parts were very easy reading. I was not sure I wanted to finish reading the book but, when I made it to the part of the book talking about Kuri and New Zealand I started enjoying the book more.

There were three things that stood out to me in the book. Two were people and one was science. I enjoyed learning about Edmund Schulman a lot. He worked for the university of Arizona and studied bristlecone pine.

The other person is Rei Paul Hamon who was a logger of Kauri trees in New Zealand until one day he decided he did not want to log the trees anymore. He went on to make pointillism art. Which I had never heard of before.

At the end of the book the Author talks about the oldest living tree that has so far been found and the controversy surrounding it.

And the other thing I like was I had never heard of paleobotany before. Or maybe I had but, I did not remember. Anyway I like botany so the idea of learning about plants from the past is something I want to learn more about.

One thing that surprised me is that Olives are so long lived. I never thought that they could be so long lived.

Elderflora looks at Kuri, Alerce, redwoods, bristlecone pines, Cedar, and other long lived plants. And another thing that surprised me is that a bush such as creosote could be long lived.

[Trish Remley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a couple books about trees and dendrology in the past and enjoyed them. Non were as comprehensive and encompassing as Elderflora by Jared Farmer. Although a "bit wordy" at times for readability, I enjoyed it very much. Covers the history (past, present, & future), science and geography of elderflora (old trees for the most part) in detail. Who knew the worldwide human obsession with the world oldest living thing. I could easily be an tree ecotourist, but this book has made me think twice. Let them be and live for as long as they can under our human accelerated climate without being subjected anymore to human greed.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a labor of love. Farmer states that this book is a condensed version of the 1000 pages he had in his head. The book sometimes does feel like it is straining at the seams. The introduction, for instance, is full of intriguing ideas that could use more development. But the reach is also a good thing, an ambitious and enlightening global story of kauri, bristlecone, tsugi, baobab . . . . studies, protections, destructions. . . . The style was sometimes off-putting, loaded with em-dashes and some random snarky bits. But that's me focusing on the trees rather than the forest maybe. Overall,what an impressive, eye-opening book.

[s0da · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uses lots of academic language and jargon, making this unaccessable for a wider audience. Absolutely loved the first few chapters of this book as it was incredibly informative, found it to be an awful slog after these chapters. I did however pick up a history book as a person that doesnt like history, but was hoping that tree history would be interesting enough to keep me going.

My issue with this book is half my own and half the writing style, I'm not sure if can bring myself to try to read this again.

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was rather disappointed with this one. I was interested to read about ancient trees, but instead I got a book that had a few sentences about the trees and lots of information NOT about the trees. The author rambled about the meaning of ancient without relating to the trees, and rambled about deforestation in Lebanon without addressing the ancient cypress. I found myself not remembering what I was reading just a minute later. Gave up after 5o pages. Rather disappointing.

[Steve Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

i didn't have a problem with the vocabulary words used. i DID have a problem with the word usage. this is an academic paper, not a popular press book. i kept losing my place, as i tried to get a flow going, but kept being derailed by the pretentious writing.
Not worth the effort, for the information returned.
Sit upright in a hard chair, to help stay awake...

[Zachary Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jared Famer's ELDERFLORA is an ode to the history of old things, and man's wonton destruction of them. It's moving and informative, touching on history, biology, ecology and anthropology in equal measure. It's a bit too long, there's only so many times you can tell the same narrative of a tree was old, humans showed up, we ruined the tree, but worth a read.

I'mma plant a tree.

[Natasha Way · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and awesome to read a nature/science book that is outright and upfront about the misogynistic and white supremacist history of science and naturalism. Was sooo pretentiously written though and definitely too long for me

[Maan D'Hamers · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing book on the history and relation between humans and oldest trees around the world and our perspective and ideas about the 'oldest thing'. The chapters about kauri in New Zealand are too long and boring, parts about Bristlecone pine and Alerce in Chile are amazing.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a big disappointment for me. I love the topic so much, but the book so little. The writing style is awful. And for a book about old trees, most of the text is poorly researched history. I found several glaring errors, some that underpinned the thesis of entire chapters.

[Peter Tillman]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elderflo...
-- 'Jared Farmer’s rich but overstuffed “Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees.” '

Maybe?

[Lindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Complete crap! Impossible to read. Who would string all those words together in such an annoying way? A case for not letting historians write about science!

[Jean Hedren · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A wonderful subject made dull.

[Kate Wilson]

A fascinating history of trees. My arborphilia is ever strengthened!

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking read, especially the last 2 chapters. I was led to this by reading about the Clock of the Long Now.

[Sarah Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very erudite, but good. Had to read slowly