The Hidden Life of Trees

Peter Wohlleben's instant classic, The Hidden Life of Trees, has been around for a while now (published in 2015) and he's followed it up with several other books exploring the world of nature. What made this first volume so electrifying was his portrait of trees as sentient, communicative beings, living not singly but in splendid communities, cooperating and helping each other through chemical communication and widespread underground networks of mycelia.

Wohlleben unapologetically anthropomorphises trees throughout, referring to mother and child trees, cries of anguish, bleeding wounds, migration (of species, not individuals), trees 'stuffing themselves with sugary treats,' happy and unhappy trees. I suspect it's this unashamed attempt to make trees relatable that led to the huge success of Wohlleben's work. And it is genuinely remarkable to discover that trees send nutrients to each other when they're in trouble, that they can count (warm days in a row to discover spring has come) and that still no one really knows exactly how trees draw up moisture from their roots all the way to the tips of their leaves.

As a German forester, Wohlleben naturally focuses on European species: oak, beech, ash, spruce and pine. I don't know if there's an equivalent volume that discusses southern hemisphere and non-deciduous trees, but if there is, I'd love to read it.