Archives: Book Reviews

For 20 years, Rebecca Alexander was a mainstay of the Elisabeth C. Miller Library staff.  Rebecca retired at the end of June 2025, but before she went, I asked about her favorite books in the Miller Library collection.  I was not surprised that the list of books “that have made a lasting impression” she provided was extensive and quite varied.  Many are in her personal collection.

I was most surprised by a book unfamiliar to me: “The Garden of Life: An Introduction to the Healing Plants of India” by Naveen Patnaik.  This 1993 publication was in Rebecca’s personal collection before she joined the Miller Library.

It introduces the millennia-old Ayurveda, or “Knowledge of Life” tradition, featuring 70 of its sacred plants.  Each are illustrated by Indian artists created specifically for this book.  This style of Indian miniature paintings is a strong interest of Rebecca’s, and she has found this book valuable when answering questions about the uses of plants.

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on May 23, 2025

Excerpted from the Summer 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

“Flowers of the Brazilian Forests” is a 1968 publication by the very talented and intrepid Margaret Mee (1909-1988) and is an excellent introduction to the flora of the Amazon River and is of a quality that matches many earlier artists.  Her work also made clear the environmental disaster overtaking the river ecosystem with the destruction of the forest for farming and other pursuits.

The famous 20th century Brazilian landscape architect, Roberto Burl Marx, said of Mee: she “seeks to portray the intricate beauty of the many plants which have so far passed unnoticed in a world where greed and ambition ruthlessly destroy our wonderful heritage, the gift of life.”

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

Arboretum Director Brian Mulligan had his first two articles in “The Bulletin” in the Spring 1947 issue.  One of these was a book review, the beginning of a long tradition that continues today.  His subject was “Camellias in America” by H. Harold Hume, which he describes as “probably the most comprehensive and finely illustrated volume on this important group of decorative shrubs which has ever appeared.”  The Miller Library now has the revised, 1955 edition – a gift from the author.

Mulligan’s greatest praise is for the section on the nomenclature and identification as he knew this would be especially valuable for updating records on the Arboretum’s collection.  He had very few concerns about the book, the greatest being the price that “will certainly restrict its sale.”  How much?  $25.50, or about $360 in today’s value!

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

Ornamental cherries (Prunus sp.) have long been an important part of the Arboretum and are an especially vibrant feature of Azalea Way.  It is not surprising that “Ornamental Cherries” was one of the first additions to the Arboretum Library in 1948, shortly after it was published.

This book continues to have important relevance today.  The author, Collingwood Ingram, was such a noted authority on these trees that he became known as “Cherry” Ingram.  His focus was on the selections in Japan that had become endangered in their home country, especially through industrialization.

Ingram brought more than 50 varieties of cherries back to his home in Sussex, England; planting them amongst companion trees while learning techniques for successful propagation.  This allowed him to revive some varieties that likely would have been lost, even reintroducing them to Japan.  In his writing, he also discusses companion planting, threats from diseases and insects, and shares his experience at creating bonsai specimens.

While the focus is on varieties selected for their ornamental value, Ingram also reviews the wild species and their forms, but does not address selections grown for their edible fruit.  He did his own illustrations, and the author’s love of these trees is clear throughout.  In response to questions about the short duration of the flowers, he writes, “the trees are so lovely during that period that if they remained in flower for only one day, or even one hour, they would still be worth growing.”

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

The books of Pascal Pompey Pirone (1907-2003) were some of the earliest guides to maintenance of the woody plant collection at the Washington Park Arboretum.  This seventh edition from 2000, titled “Pirone’s Tree Maintenance”, is available and frequently checked out.  One of its three co-authors is Thomas P. Pirone, the son of the original author.

While much of this book is on the nuts and bolts of tree management, the beginning discusses the value of trees in a place like the Arboretum: “Trees, environment, and every form of life within an ecosystem are interrelated and interdependent.  Implicit in the concept of an urban forest ecosystem, then, is the idea that people have an effect on trees and trees an effect on people.”

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

The Chinese area of the Pacific Connections Garden is focused on the plants of Mount Omei (or Emei), in Sichuan Province of China.  This region is known for having many endemic plants, many described in volume 2 of “Icones plantarum omeiensium.”

This publication was edited by Fang Wen-Pei, a Scottish-trained Chinese scientist who returned to China in the late 1930s and was a biology professor at Sichuan University until his death in 1983.  The research occurred during the very challenging period of World War II, with this second volume being published in two parts between 1945-1946.

Focused on trees, 100 species are profiled and described in both English and Chinese.  Excellent, uncolored engravings of leaves, flowers, and fruit are typically near life size on very fine paper.  In addition to a detailed, botanical description, each entry includes locations where each can be found on Mount Omei and elsewhere in China.

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

 

This Journal is the account of David Douglas, a Scottish plant explorer in our region during the 1820s and 1830s.  Douglas was famous for introducing several conifers to Europe; however he described all the shrubby and herbaceous species he observed, too.

This transcription was not published until 1914 by the Royal Horticultural Society.  Why the delay?  The secretary of the RHS, W. Wilks, states in the preface that the original was very difficult to decipher as the handwriting was “occasionally almost if not quite impossible” to read.

Reading the results of this effort, I found that he writing style by Douglas is not romantic, but is mostly an accounting of the weather (often in dour terms), his meals (often meager), and the course of his travels.  Animals described are mostly ones he killed.  An exception being mosquitoes with which he was “dreadfully annoyed.”   More interesting are his encounters with indigenous people who sometimes helped him with his exploration, but the real focus was on the plants he found and described.

While most famous for conifers, most of the plants he described are herbaceous species, typically in brief terms, although he sometimes notes the potential ornamental value for gardeners.  This compilation includes other, more formal manuscripts by Douglas.  One gives his impressions of American pines.  This included trees now considered to be spruce (Picea sp.), true firs (Abies sp.), and his eponymous Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii).

Although never lyrical, Douglas comes close as he describes the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) as “highly ornamental” and that “it never grows in nor composes thick forests like the Abies section, but is found on declivities of low hills and undulating grounds in unproductive sandy soils in clumps, belts, or forming open woods, and in low, fertile, moist soils totally disappears.”

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted in part from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

One of earliest, photographic works on trees is this rare, privately published work by Henry William Clinton-Baker.  This included photographs of the more than 150 conifers in his family’s pinetum at Bayfordbury in Hertfordshire, England, just north of London.

The original three volumes were published between 1909-1913 with life-size photographs.  Each showed a branch with foliage and cones designed to provide identification help for conifers planted in Britain.  Despite limited distribution, these books proved to be very useful, and a fourth volume of additional trees followed in 1936.

The sepia toned, close-up images are of high quality.  Each entry includes the age of the tree and its height and girth.  A century later, these are still a valuable measure of the growth rates for different species.

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

The Silva of North America profiles all the known native trees of Canada and the United States, each species described in the wild by author Charles Sprague Sargent.

This research took over a decade at the turn of the 20th century and was still the authority almost 50 years later when this set was published.  It served as an important reference work for the Arboretum library and is still of value today, especially for the exquisite illustrations by Charles Edward Faxon, who accompanied Sargent on his research trips.

Sargent and Faxon also published “Trees and Shrubs: Illustrations of new or little-known ligneous plants,” shortly after the North American work.  In this 2-volume set, Sargent defined the subjects as “new or little-known trees and shrubs of the northern hemisphere which may be expected to flourish in the gardens of the United States and Europe.”  None overlapped with species profiled in The Silva.  Most were already in the collections at the Arnold Arboretum near Boston, where Sargent was the director, and that was a source of both plants and ideas for our Arboretum.

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on February 24, 2025

Excerpted from the Spring 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

Most books on native plants are in the style of a field guide.  These are very practical with entries for each plant in similar formats.  While useful in the field, they are not especially enjoyable for reading cover-to-cover.

Lester Rowntree’s (1879-1979) two books on California native plants from the 1930s are very different – they are fun to read!  The author had a lively and dry sense of humor, and is excellent at pointing out at the distinctive features of each plant.  “Hardy Californians” (published in 1936) and “Flowering Shrubs of California” (1939) successfully introduce the reader to plants from all parts of the state, especially emphasizing their potential as garden subjects.

The author said it the best.  “This is not ‘another garden book.’  Nor is it a handbook of California wild flowers.  What I have tried to do is to convey to those who garden, as well as those who don’t, something of the loveliness and the garden possibilities of certain less familiar hardy native plants of California.”

Rowntree was born in England, but moved with her family as a child to the United States.  She had a marriage and child, and a not very successful native seed business, but ultimately settled in Carmel, California, on her own at age 52.  For the next 20 years, she would spend most of the year traveling throughout the state, timing her visits for the best blooms and weather prospects.  Her car had all seats removed except for the driver’s, to allow room for sleeping and all of her gear.  At higher elevations, she traveled by burro.  She would spend weeks at a time in one location to acquire a more thorough understanding of each plant she studied.

In addition to her native plant books, Rountree wrote four children’s books, and had over 700 articles published, some on topics such as her peripatetic life style.  Her story is well-described in, “About Lester,” a chapter added to the 2006 edition of “Hardy Californias” and written by two of her grandsons.  As she lived a few days past her 100^th birthday, she was a considerable inspiration to all her descendants, and was described by her grandsons as “good company until the end, with a deep interest in current events, a keen wit, and quick laugh.”

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on December 2, 2024

Excerpted from the Winter 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin