The Blastophaga wasps that pollinate the common edible fig are female, stingless and just a couple of millimetres long.

Its weird appearance is explained by one folk tale as due to the tree having ideas above its station: “The Creator exasperatedly flung the baobab upside down with its roots in the air. In Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori uses plant science and natural history to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of human life, from the romantic to the regrettable, together with captivating illustrations by Lucille Clerc. Proust played on this in À la recherche du temps perdu, in which the narrator dips a madeleine cake into lime-blossom tea, triggering a chain of involuntary memories.Stops on the trip include the lime trees of Berlin's Unter den Linden boulevard, which intoxicate amorous Germans and hungry bees alike, the swankiest streets in nineteenth-century London, which were paved with Australian eucalyptus wood, and the redwood forests of California, where the secret to the trees' soaring heights can be found in the properties of the tiniest drops of water. Whether by accident or design, Neolithic sailors are thought to have brought the species with them from the Iberian Peninsula some time between 10000 and 3000 BC. From India’s sacred banyan tree to the fragrant cedar of Lebanon, they offer us sanctuary and inspiration – as well as raw materials for everything from aspirin to maple syrup. Lucille Clerc is a French illustrator and graphic designer based in London, who works with a diverse range of international clients including cultural institutions, textile designers, musicians and architects. A hybrid of the American sycamore and the Oriental plane, they have set an example to urban planners around the world.

Bestselling author and environmentalist Jonathan Drori follows in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg as he tells the stories of 80 magnificent trees from all over the globe. Jonathan Drori is a Trustee of The Woodland Trust and The Eden Project, an Ambassador for the WWF and was for nine years a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Nimble goats have learned to avoid the thorns and leathery leaves of the argan to gorge on its sweet-smelling fruit. Jonathan Drori CBE is a Trustee of The Eden Project and Cambridge Science Centre, an Ambassador for the WWF, and was for nine years a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and The Woodland Trust. An iconic fruit in all the cultures of the region and a staple food containing up to two-thirds sugar, the date has altered the course of history by enabling large numbers of people to live in deserts.

Stiff materials make the best soundboards because they can transmit vibration efficiently from molecule to molecule; in a more elastic material, energy is squandered as the sound waves travel through it. In Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori uses plant science to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of human life, from the romantic to the regrettable. An arboreal odyssey" - NATURE"One of the most quietly beautiful books of the year" - DAILY MAILEvening Standard Books of the Year 2018The Times Gardening Books of the Year 2018Discover the secretive world of trees in Jonathan Drori's number one bestseller.

In a confined space the smell of the durian fruit can be overwhelming, and signs telling people not to bring durians into hotels or aircraft are common in Malaysia and Singapore. He starts with the London Plane, “a tree of pomp and circumstance”, first planted in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, in 1789. We pay respect by giving voice to social justice, acknowledging our shared history and valuing the cultures of First Nations. Guardian Australia acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, waters and community.

In a previous life at the BBC, he was Executive Producer of more than fifty prime-time science documentaries and popular series. By day, the distinctive monochrome pattern of snow-clad birch forests is dazzling and disorientating, but during long boreal nights, their moonlit, ghostly forms take on an eerie power. The strawberry tree is native to the western Mediterranean and the southwest of Ireland – but not Britain. The book combines history, science and a wealth of quirky detail - there should be surprises for everyone. Liquid urushiol causes extreme rashes, and even its vapour promotes itching that can linger for months.