Island of Trees: 50 Trees, 50 Tales of Montreal

by Bronwyn Chester, Jean-Luc Trudel (Illustrator)

Overview

By following the trail of 50 trees, Bronwyn Chester presents a new perspective on the island of Montreal and offers a sense of belonging to an ancient forest, in its modern form. She goes beyond the traits defining each tree and interprets the tree's story. Each story is complemented with an illustration by Jean-Luc Trudel of the tree being discussed. The Island of Montreal has its own unique ecosystem. Insulated all around by the St. Lawrence River and the Rivière des Prairies, the island is slightly warmer than the surrounding territory, allowing species such as the giant cottonwood poplars to thrive all along the shoreline, and exotic species, such as the black walnut, tulip tree and dawn redwood to compliment the wide variety of native trees.

Bronwyn Chester wrote the weekly column Island of Trees for the Montreal Gazette and this book is an expansion of those columns. Grouped by territory, the trees selected will provide Montrealers and visitors the opportunity to not only better know and appreciate Montreal's trees, but will also lead them to little known places and histories of their island. These are stories that anchor us in time and space. Old trees connect us to the past as witnesses of bygone eras.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781550654219
Publisher:	Véhicule Press
Publication date:	12/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Bronwyn Chester wrote a weekly column on trees for the Montreal Gazette. After writing numerous articles related to trees for the McGill Reporter, where she worked as associate editor, she created the first campus tree walk from which evolved her first tree publication, A Leafy Legacy:The Trees of McGill University [McGill-Queens University Press, 2009]. She gave numerous tree walks in Montreal parks and neighbourhoods. Bronwyn Chester died in Montreal in 2012.

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Introduction 9

Chapter 1 "Regular" Trees 13

Chapter 2 Mount Royal Park - A Forest in the City 32

Chapter 3 Trees as Monuments - Mount Royal's Cemeteries 61

Chapter 4 Living Bark-by-Jowl - Neighbourhood Trees 81

Chapter 5 A Multiplicity of Gardens 121

Chapter 6 Sanctuary in the Office Tower Forest - the McGill Campus 159

Chapter 7 "A Sweet City Has Fruit for the Picking" 171

Illustration Creditss 179

List of Trees 181