A Natural History of North American Trees

By: Donald Culross Peattie

Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell

Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Donald Culross Peattie's two books about American trees were first published in the 1950s. In this edition, modern listeners are introduced to one of the best nature writers of the last century. As we listen to Peattie's descriptions, we catch glimpses of our country's history and past daily life that no textbook could ever illuminate so vividly. Here you'll learn about everything from how a species was discovered to the part it played in our country's history.

Pioneers often stabled an animal in the hollow heart of an old sycamore, and the whole family might live there until they could build a log cabin. The tuliptree, the tallest native hardwood, is easier to work than most softwood trees; Daniel Boone carved a sixty-foot canoe from one tree to carry his family from Kentucky into Spanish territory. In the days before the Revolution, the British and the colonists waged an undeclared war over New England's white pines, which made the best tall masts for fighting ships.

It's fascinating to learn about the commercial uses of various woods - for paper, fine furniture, fence posts, matchsticks, house framing, airplane wings, and dozens of other preplastic uses. But we cannot listen to this book without the occasional lump in our throats. The American elm was still alive when Peattie wrote, but as we listen to his account today we can see what caused its demise. Audubon's portrait of a pair of loving passenger pigeons in an American beech is considered by many to be his greatest painting. It certainly touched the poet in Donald Culross Peattie as he depicted the extinction of the passenger pigeon when the beech forest was destroyed. A Natural History of North American Trees gives us a picture of life in America from its earliest days to the middle of the last century. The information is always interesting, though often heartbreaking. While Peattie looks for the better side of man's nature, he reports sorrowfully on the greed and waste that have doomed so much of America's virgin forest.

©2007 Houghton Mifflin Company. Foreword copyright 2007 by Mark R. Peattie. Introduction copyright 2007 by Verlyn Klinkenborg. Copyright 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1964 by Donald Culross Peattie. Copyright renewed 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981 by Noel Peattie. Copyright 1950 and 1953 by Paul H. Landacre. Copyright renewed 1977 by Joseph M. Landacre. Compilation and revisions copyright 2007 by the estate of Donald Culross Peattie. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Makes me want to walk every forest

Describes the magnificence of trees and habitats so that I pine to see every one of them.

Excellent book for tree lovers

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating, because of the interesting tidbits shared on each of the trees and the obvious affection that the author holds for some tree species. I enjoyed learning about the uses of the trees including uses by Native Americans. I also enjoyed learning about the wood products that come from each of the tree species. Yes the information is old, however, it was still educational to hear what the environmental issues were 70 years ago.
The narrator, however, I struggled with. He mispronounced so many words including Latin names and location names, that it was very distracting for me. I feel that if you’re going to be a narrator, then you need to do your homework and learn how to pronounce words correctly.

Extremely Abridgment!

If you love trees JUST BUY a physical copy of both volumes.

This is a very confusing production. Is it worth it to get this information out to anyone and everyone who shows even the slightest interest? Yes absolutely but either fire this editor or retitle this audiobook for what it is “Donald Culross Peattie On Trees: Select essays from his two volume master work ‘the American Sylvia’”

Good for kids, long roads, people who are on the fence maybe but if you make it past chapter 4 in this audiobook you will be greatly enriched by the full print material, complete with Peattie’s full list of species, plant descriptions, and original images that make identification possible. Best money I’ve spent on a physical book in ages.

If you’re still reading this just know that the hubris of this editor’s comments in this audio edition are unforgivable. Surely he has a job and duty to preform but to use such clouded language as to the justification of cutting down whole swaths of trees from Peattie’s Sylvia is as near sighted as those who didn’t cherish this great content’s trees.

It is my sincere hope that some brave souls will undertake the truly colossal task of recording both original volumes for the future of all tree loving audio book listeners.

amazing

Compelling information of trees in a story telling format. The story telling format makes it easy to remember the information, even weeks later.

Great writer, great reader.

what an interesting book. Such poetry about trees. You just can't go wrong with Kevin Stillwell.

Fantastic, archaic, spellbinding

I loved the text. The performance was great, although I found the consistent mispronunciations rather distracting. Words like slough, and many place names were often pronounced in confounding and inconsistent ways.

A good review of NA silva

As an amateur botanist and ecologist, I highly recommend this book. It is worth the credit and time. It is a bit dated, but it provides useful ethnobotanical information on more than 200 tree species.

A beautiful Narrative

To be honest, I was not sure what to expect, but I found this extremely interesting and reflective. My appreciation for trees in North America and their history is something I will always remember. I loved this book so much, that I got it in print to go back and reference pages.

Honestly, one of my top 3 tree focused books!! Absolutely stunning!!

What they don't teach in school

I had no idea, and am betting it's the same for most people. We've had some amazing trees in North America. The destruction of many types was far worse than I anticipated.

The stories of these trees enchant. This is unlike any other book on the subject, and it was written so many years ago.

Narration was perfect for this book, I think.

The way I listened was to jump around the chapters because nothing is lost doing so.

everything I wanted it to be

loved it. well narrated (calming but not uninteresting). probably not for those not already "into" trees. but who knows. I learned a fair number of american frontier times factoids as well.