Lives of Conifers: A Comparative Account of the Coniferous Trees Indigenous to Northeastern North America.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Powell draws on his decades of research, university-level teaching, and numerous related publications to make this reference work both exacting and comprehensive.

Conifers are those trees, known informally as evergreens, which dominate the boreal forests. This study concentrates on 12 species, including balsam fir; eastern hemlock; tamarack larch; white, pitch, and red pine; spruces, and others. For these, Powell describes and compares range, each feature (except roots), and stages of development. The 12 are examined in detail from seeds through seedlings, saplings, leaves/needles, pole stage, cones, reproduction, development of branches and crowns, bark, growth, old age, and death. Each stage, each feature, each attribute is meticulously illustrated with generous use of colour photos, several hundred in total. Close-ups and enlargements are used extensively, giving clarity and understanding to the fact-filled text. Charts, diagrams, and tables are also used to good effect, lending visual strength to material that is often difficult to visualize.

The book has all the tools of a useful reference work: detailed photo captions, cross-references, acknowledgement of sources, comprehensive glossary, and a detailed index. It will be welcomed as an essential reference by silviculturalists and everyone studying forest botany.