How does a nation celebrate its native trees? The Irish Society of Botanical Artists answers this with superb illustrations in “Crainn na hÉireann” (Ireland’s Native Trees), a luscious book to be celebrated for the quality of its art. But there is an important lesson here, too. Ireland of a thousand years ago had 80% tree coverage – a quite different landscape from today.
As Elaine Moore Mackey, chair of the Society wrote in the introduction, “If we cannot recognise our natives, how can we expect to love them. And if we do not love and appreciate native trees, we will lose them.”
Included are 22 species of trees. As 38 artists contributed to this book, this allows there to be several images and perspectives for each. These include leaves, flowers, fruit, bark, and – for most – a full profile. The illustrations are without commentary other than brief captions that provide the artist’s name, the tree’s botanical name, its name in English and Irish, and the season of the illustration. Discrete rulers provide scale.
The commentary is reserved for the introduction, and in a forward by Seamus O’Brien, Head Gardener at the National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh. O’Brien writes, “Photography is no substitute for botanical art, and the illustration throughout the following pages beautifully highlights the trees of our native landscape, that gladden the heart at every season.”
Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on August 19, 2024
Excerpted from the Fall 2024 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin