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Book

When trees testify : science, wisdom, history, and America's Black botanical legacy

Call Number

  • 582.16 M7871 (CEN, EAS, POW)

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Edition

First edition.

Publication Information

New York, New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2026.

Physical Description

xli, 275 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Summary

"The histories of trees in America are also the histories of Black Americans. Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycamore trees were both havens and signposts for people trying to escape enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark has offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complexity of the Black American narrative but also to a heritage of Black botanical expertise that, like Native American traditions, predates the United States entirely. In When Trees Testify, award-winning plant biologist Beronda L. Montgomery explores the ways seven trees--as well as the cotton shrub--are intertwined with Black history and culture. She reveals how knowledge surrounding these trees has shaped America since the very beginning. As Montgomery shows, trees are material witnesses to the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants."--Front cover flap.

Contents

  • Preface
  • Introduction: Life as testimony
  • Pecan trees and the roots of stolen botanical knowledge
  • Sycamore trees as a path to freedom
  • The secret lives of willow trees
  • Poplar trees bear strange fruit
  • The sweeping promise of mulberry
  • A haven for community in historic oak trees
  • Cotton shrubs and seeds of subversion
  • The gift of apple trees
  • Conclusion: Black botanical legacy reclaimed.

Subjects