{"id":16666,"date":"2025-08-05T11:05:42","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=book&p=16666"},"modified":"2025-08-05T11:06:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:06:29","slug":"crainn-na-heireann-irelands-native-trees","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/crainn-na-heireann-irelands-native-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Crainn na h\u00e9ireann: Ireland’s Native Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

How does a nation celebrate its native trees?\u00a0 The Irish Society of Botanical Artists answers this with superb illustrations in \u201cCrainn na h\u00c9ireann\u201d (Ireland\u2019s Native Trees), a luscious book to be celebrated for the quality of its art.\u00a0 But there is an important lesson here, too.\u00a0 Ireland of a thousand years ago had 80% tree coverage \u2013 a quite different landscape from today.<\/p>\n

As Elaine Moore Mackey, chair of the Society wrote in the introduction, \u201cIf we cannot recognise our natives, how can we expect to love them.\u00a0 And if we do not love and appreciate native trees, we will lose them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Included are 22 species of trees.\u00a0 As 38 artists contributed to this book, this allows there to be several images and perspectives for each.\u00a0 These include leaves, flowers, fruit, bark, and \u2013 for most \u2013 a full profile.\u00a0 The illustrations are without commentary other than brief captions that provide the artist\u2019s name, the tree\u2019s botanical name, its name in English and Irish, and the season of the illustration.\u00a0 Discrete rulers provide scale.<\/p>\n

The commentary is reserved for the introduction, and in a forward by Seamus O\u2019Brien, Head Gardener at the National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh.\u00a0 O\u2019Brien writes, \u201cPhotography 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on August 19, 2024<\/p>\n

Excerpted from the Fall 2024 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How does a nation celebrate its native trees?\u00a0 The Irish Society of Botanical Artists answers this with superb illustrations in \u201cCrainn na h\u00c9ireann\u201d (Ireland\u2019s Native Trees), a luscious book to be celebrated for the quality of its art.\u00a0 But there is an important lesson here, too.\u00a0 Ireland of a thousand years ago had 80% tree coverage \u2013 a quite different landscape from today. As Elaine Moore Mackey, chair of the Society wrote in the introduction, \u201cIf we cannot recognise our…<\/p>\n

Continue reading Crainn na h\u00e9ireann: Ireland’s Native Trees<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[],"class_list":["post-16666","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/16666"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/book"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=16666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}