The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring is a non-fiction book by Richard Preston

Richard Preston

Richard Preston, born August 5, 1954 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., is a New Yorker writer and bestselling author perhaps best-known for his books about infectious disease epidemics and bioterrorism, although he has written other non-fiction works...

 about California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

's coastal redwoods and the recreational climbers who climbed them. It is a narrative-style collection of stories from climbers who pioneered redwood climbing, including botanist Steve Sillett

Stephen C. Sillett

Stephen C. Sillett is a botanist specializing in old growth forest canopies. As the first scientist to enter the redwood forest canopy, he pioneered new methods for climbing, exploring, and studying tall trees...

, lichenologist Marie Antoine, and Michael Taylor. They inadvertently discovered a thriving ecosystem hidden among the tree tops, 60–90 meters (200–300 ft) above, of redwood lattices, berry bushes, bonsai trees, epiphyte

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

s, lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

s, vole

Vole

A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars . There are approximately 155 species of voles. They are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America...

s, and salamander

Salamander

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...

s.

The book was #83 on Amazon's Best Books of the Year

Amazon's Best Books of the Year

Amazon's Best Books of the Year is a list of best books created yearly by Amazon.com. It is a list of best books picked by Amazon editors and customers. It began in 2000. Customer favorites are ranked according to the number of sales made through October, for books published in that calender year...

. It was illustrated by Andrew Joslin.

The Wild Trees introduces several characters and provides backgrounds for them, as far back as their childhoods. Throughout the book, information about trees, forests and logging is woven into the story.

Several of the largest and tallest known redwoods are introduced, including descriptions. Details are provided about how these trees are climbed, explored and studied, although many of their specific locations are not given.

External links

• "Climbing the redwoods", an earlier essay by Preston that appeared in The New Yorker
  The New Yorker
  The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...