Trees, nature’s largest and longest-lived creations, play an
extraordinarily important role in our cityscapes.
They are living landmarks that define space, cool the air,
soothe our psyches, and connect us to nature and our past.
Today, four out of five Americans live in or near cities,
surrounded by millions of trees that make up urban forests containing hundreds
of species.
Despite the ubiquity and familiarity of those trees, most of us
take them for granted and know little of their specific natural history or
civic virtues.
Perfectly timed to the season of fall foliage “Urban Forests: A Natural History Of Trees And People In The American Cityscape”
(Viking; Sept. 27, $30.00) by Jill Jonnes is a wide-ranging
history of the tree in American cities over the course of the past two
centuries.
