Were there particular facts about trees in The Overstory that surprised or impressed you? 

Were there particular facts about trees in The Overstory that surprised or impressed you? 

I was impressed how trees communicate with each other. Spectacular!

We are surrounded by Live Oak trees; many are hundreds of years old. We know Live Oaks are very connected through their roots. Now, we have a horrible disease, Oak Wilt, that is moving further south every year. In time it will put the Live Oaks and other oak trees in our area in danger. In the past few months, I have attended community awareness events put on to help property owners protect their trees.

I was amazed to learn in reading Overstory that what is happening to Live Oaks is not a new problem. Similar diseases have taken out other majestic trees. This is not comforting news, but I'm glad to know this history.

I never knew that there was an epidemic that decimated the American Chestnut tree. Since this fact was highlighted at the beginning of the book I actually researched it to see if it was true

The part that trees play in communicating and providing for other trees and animals was very interesting. The tremendous destruction of the world’s ancient forest was not new, but very well presented. The details made this huge loss far more personal. I really enjoyed this book. I wish it could have the impact that Silent Spring by Carson or The Jungle by Lewis each had.

I never knew that a relationship between the number of cricket chirps and temperature existed, nor did I know that a beech tree is the preferred canvas of initial-carving lovers.

So many new things to learn! But of greatest interest that trees are not simply individual entities but part of a much larger, complex system that communicates and responds as an organism. Fascinating!

I learned so much! Especially the interaction and dependency on trees to each other and humankind! I never knew there were so many species throughout the globe and how fast they are being decimated!!

The fact that there is a whole ecosystem that lives and thrives at the top, around, and in a tree. Through its whole life and even after it is dead and decaying, it supports the life around it.

If you would like to read more about how trees communicate with each other try reading The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. I wouldn’t be surprised if Powers read it and based Patricia on Wohlleben’s writing.

I found this book to be life-changing. I will never look at trees in the same way again. I felt the same after H is for Hawk. I never see a hawk soaring in the sky but that I don’t think of that story.

This book is filled with various and curious facts, not only about trees, but about nature in general. It was interesting to be introduced to many new kinds of trees and to read about the history and influence of them - under as well as above ground - as well as their silent effect upon our lives and world. In many ways, I felt I was reading non fiction for the vast array of information presented - surely this book will have a lasting impact on society and reach the status of many of those works mentioned above.

Yes, the tree information led me on to read other books about trees such as The Hidden Life of Trees.

I was amazed by the amount of information I did not know about how trees communicate, interact and work together. It is astounding! Knowing this makes me feel terrible everything i use a paper product! The descriptions of the differing types of ancient trees was incredible. I love watching the British "Planet" shows on Netflix and so some of the info was not new to me, but this was more in depth information.

How all of nature interacts both above ground and underground. What a wonderful commodity the forest with all its components is--a treasure worth saving.

We read The Overstory in our Bookclub last month, it was amazing that we all agreed about how much we learned about trees and the interdependency with each other and the insect world and fungi.
We continued talking about the book by email for days after our meeting and still find more information .

Everything! I have always taken trees for granted and this book opened my eyes to their truly remarkable nature. At times while reading the book, I felt like I was soaring over the world seeing all of the forest and different types of trees present even before civilization began. This book has drawn me to learning more about trees.

I thought the author was wise to start with the narrative of the American chestnut and how human errors, whether intended or not, have a profound affect on our surroundings. I also appreciated the hope he provided of those few remaining enclaves of living American chestnuts.