Gorgeous illustrations and interesting history of urban trees in famous cities around the world. Perfect gift for a nature lover.

I enjoyed reading this book. This is a travel book through trees. Each tree is beautifully presented in the city where is grows. It also includes a short history of the tree and illustrations. The book is easy to read and offers a lot of information. You can travel around the world through trees. It will also encourage to notice the trees as you travel. This book will make a wonderful gift. Enjoy

A very interesting book, but one that went 60% over my head. Though if you are into trees and plants and know a bit about them and like reading anything related to them, then this one is for you. But if not, then you can totally do without reading this book, unless you're like me and love learning about new things- then this book is really good for you as it'll teach you a lot of things.

If you like trees and you enjoy beautiful photos you'll enjoy looking at this book. It features information about trees put in place for cities and towns to help beautify as well as help with clean air. There is a purpose of each tree and this is not only a beautiful book, but educational too.

Urban Arboreal by Michael Jordan and Kelly Louise Judd takes a look at the many trees that share our cities and suburbs. Humans need trees. We need them to live. We need them as our connection point to nature. Our ancestors came from the forests. They were our first home, and most people do better for having trees around, even if it's only on lawns or verges, or sidewalk beds. This little book is a modern compendium of those trees able to flourish in a city environment. Nearly 100 different trees are mentioned. Each tree has an info page and a page of full-colour print plates. It was neat to read about the individual trees, with their interesting facts. The pictures were pretty cool too, and gave the book an old-timey feel. Recommended for urban landscapes, nature lovers, and dendrophiles.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Have you ever walked down a city street and wondered about that beautiful tree on the corner? This book will help you learn more, including the origin, climate, and history of urban trees. Instead of photographs, it features gorgeous, full-color botanical drawings of each type of tree. I felt like a 19th-century scholar paging through an old-fashioned textbook (in a good way).

The only thing I didn't like is that the book is laid out alphabetically by tree name, so it would be difficult to look for trees by, for example, needle/leaf type, native region, etc. You'll need to figure out the name of the species before you can look it up.

A visual delight from start to finish. The artwork captures the unique and beautiful details of these trees in a way that photographs cannot. The delicate details of the trees are brought into focus alongside details of the urban regions identified with them. For the artist and the nature lover alike this is a treat to read and reread.

Beautiful illustrations and I loved the idea. Overall it was just slightly too dry for me and felt like a laundry list versus a celebration of trees.

I liked this book. Actually, I more than liked this book. Firstly, I love plants and nature, but at the same time I really love the city and living in the city which made me really appreciate the nature around the city. I like to observe the plants and birds around and I have favourite trees and parts of the city in different seasons, which is why this book was quite perfect for me since it's about trees in the city!

Plus, it features great illustration and it makes for a fun and quirky traveling companion as you may not go to Barcelona for a particular tree, but if you go there, why not visit it too, right?

My only complain would be that despite loving the illustrations, I think some pictures would have added to the book (although maybe ruined the aesthetic, but at the same time breaking the dullness that instill if you read too many pages in a row). I got tired googling the trees and I wanted to see them in the exact same spot and city described!

Trees are one of the few things that everyone is interested in, whether wondering what kind of tree or how it managed to grow in the middle of the sidewalk. After living in one place for 30 years, I knew my local trees, but none outside. This book gave me some fascinating looks at local trees in other places. The illustrations are helpful. I can see these growing and thriving. A general interest book for that person who loves trees or who has everything.

Urban Arboreal by Michael Jordan is a wonderful treat for anyone loving trees. The book presents 70 tree species from all around the world, giving the typical areas of where each species lives. There is one page presentation and one page illustration for each tree species. The illustrations are art works on their own right. Text part also includes a small silhouette picture of a whole tree, which give a good idea of how it looks like in the nature.

The presentation texts contain all the essential about the species and a few interesting facts or anecdotes on each species. They are both educating and entertaining. There are species very well known for all, but also those that are rare and perhaps new to even many tree enthusiasts.

A beautiful book!

I expected this book to further my interest in plants/botany in general. Instead, my enthusiasm sort of tanked.

The concept of this title is good but frankly, to introduce 70 trees with long write-ups for each and every one just makes it dull. True, the illustrations does the job to liven things up. Still it could only do so much. I wanted to see actual photographs of trees to be able to recognise and commit them to memory.

It would have been so much better as a guidebook to notable trees in urban life?

Lovely graphic book, I really enjoyed learning more about trees in this urban arboreal. We really see how much the graphics are important and I think it is a beautiful book.

This book is fabulous, not only is the art work beautiful, but the information about each tree is very informative and quite fascinating.
The information would capture the interest of the least likely person - well written, well laid out, followed with a page filled with wonderful artistry of component of the tree.
The trees are from all over the world in origin, and are absolutely beautiful

This book truly is a "glossary" with a page-long description for each of about 70 trees that are considered to be urban trees. Each description is faced with drawings, often in an artistic arrangement, of various parts of the tree (leaves, fruits, seeds, flowers). The descriptions focus primarily on the use of that species in particular urban environments, the physical appearance of the tree, its benefits, and other notes of interest.

As a botanist and gardener, I'd find any book on trees interesting. But, I'm struggling to figure out who would be the target audience for this book. It could be a basic reference (though not really enough information for each tree) for someone charged with selecting trees for an urban project. I can't really see a typical urban homeowner using it. The artwork is spectacular, and I might be tempted just to get it for that!

This beautifully illustrated book makes accessible the theme of sustainability and the importance of proper tree planting, selection, and management as part of urban planning. Aside from a truly global perspective of the common trees used in different cities around the world from San Francisco to New Zealand, it also shares the following:

1. Origin and history of each tree as well as descriptions of how they grow
2. Regions where a particular tree is commonly found
3. Interesting facts about each tree and their cultural and/or medical significance to that particular location (e.g. the Banyan tree is considered a sacred tree in India and is closely associated with enlightenment elsewhere)
4. Urban challenges with regard to maintenance and upkeep of particular trees in the cityscape such as the Flame Tree in Hong Kong

All of these point to a very well-researched material which is useful as a reference and just a delight to browse through thanks to the illustrations. I suppose it's the illustrations that are the highlight of this book, though I'm no tree expert so I can't vouch for their accuracy. I remember having worked on a project that required tree illustrations and how the sustainability expert I worked with was a stickler for details. That being said, there are no actual photographs in this book-- I don't count this as a bad thing.

How the book can be improved, but this is just me nitpicking:
1. A general guide on how to choose trees for landscaping (e.g. choose native trees over nonnative ones) based on city planning offices' best practises
2. I wish the illustrations of the actual trees were filled in with more detail and weren't just filled in with a block color

I received a digital Advanced Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's a book about trees. What's not to love? Now, don't mistake this for some boring tome. Each tree's entry includes some fun facts along with the usual growing region/size/etc and the reader is also treated to beautiful illustrations for each entry. If I had a coffee table, I'd happily leave a copy of this book on it to be enjoyed by visitors!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book! All comments are my own, unbiased opinion.

This was very interesting and informative to read and beautifully illustrated. A feast for the eyes.

Urban Arboreal by Michael Jordon highlights trees used in town planning, new and old, to contribute to clean air and balance the landscape. Each tree has a fascinating history and purpose. With one page on the tree and one with an illustration of this tree, the book is both educational and artistically beautiful! I have long loved trees in general but, the more I learn of them, their variety and benefits, beauty and strength, I am learning to love them individually!

Several favourite trees feature and I have found a few new ones too! Many of the facts are surprising, such as

Of the Bodhi tree “In common with other ‘strangler’ figs, it can initially grow as an epiphyte by germinating from a seed deposited on the upper branches of a host tree, which it then progressively outcompetes by putting down long aerial roots.”
Of the Colombian Wax Palm “In the past much damage has been wrought to these remarkable trees through stripping the leaves for the Christian religious celebration of Palm Sunday”
Of the Maidenhair tree “Sometimes known in Japan ‘upside down tree’, this quaint name derives from the way that the branches, when left to their own devices, grow downward, and very old trees can develop limbs that become aerial roots or so-called stalactite branches.
I highly recommend this one if your are fond of trees! Five out of five!

Urban Arboreal by Michael Jordan
A Modern Glossary of City Trees

Sept 2018
Quarto Publishing

I received a digital arc of this book for an unbiased review from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing.

A beautifully illustrated book of city trees around the world. It is organized in alphabetical order explaining the history along with descriptive information regarding the species.

It makes you understand the beauty and significance of trees. Most of these trees inhabit other countries where one would never encounter.