Trees in Paradise: A California History

摘要

Historians can learn much from the history of plants, not only about their ecological significance, but also their place within the social construction of environments. This point is nowhere more pertinent than in California. That state's greening under the Euro-American settler impact since 1850 has been treated before, but never in so comprehensive a fashion. In succession, Jared Farmer engagingly tells the story of the destruction of Sequoia species, the addition of the Australian Eucalyptus genus, the rise of citrus culture, and the place of palms in creating the modern, urbanized southeastern part of the state.