The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland

This well-illustrated seven-volume work (1906–13) covers the varieties, distribution, history and cultivation of tree species in the British Isles.

Henry John Elwes (Author), Augustine Henry (Author)

9781108069373, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 January 2014

374 pages, 32 b/w illus.
29.7 x 21 x 2 cm, 0.9 kg

Although without formal scientific training, Henry John Elwes (1846–1922) devoted his life to natural history. He had studied birds, butterflies and moths, but later turned his attention to collecting and growing plants. Embarking on his most ambitious project in 1903, he recruited the Irish dendrologist Augustine Henry (1857–1930) to collaborate with him on this well-illustrated work. Privately printed in seven volumes between 1906 and 1913, it covers the varieties, distribution, history and cultivation of tree species in the British Isles. The strictly botanical parts were written by Henry, while Elwes drew on his extensive knowledge of native and non-native species to give details of where remarkable examples could be found. Each volume contains photographic plates as well as drawings of leaves and buds to aid identification. The species covered in Volume 6 (1912) include spruce, juniper, laburnum, cherry, mulberry and gum trees.

Picea species
Juniperus species
Athrotaxis
Fitzroya
Saxegothaea
Torreya
Cephalotaxus
Keteleeria
Pseudolarix
Catalpa species
Paulownia
Robinia species
Gleditschia species
Laburnum
Castanopsis
Umbellularia
Prunus species
Pyrus species
Magnolia species
Hallesia
Morus
Eucalyptus species
Plates.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]