The Tree of Life
November 10th, 2015

Since moving to a 2-acre farm and planting dozens of trees, Nikki Tate has come to appreciate “why trees just might be our best friends.” In her educational follow-up to her children’s book about housing around the globe, she celebrates and explains the universal importance of trees in Deep Roots: How Trees Sustain Our Planet (Orca $19.95). We learn that six of the planet’s eight species of bizarre baobab trees are in Madagascar. Clusters of branches appear only at the top of enormous, smooth, white trunks that rise like 100-ft. pillars. To adapt to a very dry climate, water is stored in the massive trunks during the rainy season. The baobab trees later produce much-needed fruit in the dry season when little else grows. Hence the baobab is known as the Tree of Life. Baobab flowers bloom at night and are pollinated by bats. 978-1-4598-0582-8
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