When Trees Testify - by Beronda L Montgomery (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

How the Word is Passed meets Lab Girl in a cultural and personal reclamation of Black history and the Black botanical expertise, as told through the stories of long-lived trees

"Trees are material evidence of the exhaled quintessence of humans past and present. They are truly living witnesses."

The histories of long-lived 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 their lives of enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complex Black American narrative but also to a legacy of Black botanical expertise that predates America entirely.

In When Trees Testify, award-winning plant biologist Beronda L. Montgomery explores the way six trees--as well as the cotton shrub--are intertwined with Black history and culture. She reveals how knowledge surrounding these trees has shaped the Americas since the very beginning. To Montgomery's mind, trees are material witnesses to the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants.

Combining the wisdom of science, history, and her path to botany, Montgomery talks to majestic trees, and in this unique and compelling narrative, they answer. When Trees Testify exemplifies the importance of the natural world in human stories and human survival​. Ultimately, this unique work extends an invitation to "reflect anew on what testimonies these beings have to offer." Their testimonies are ones we need to hear, honor, and with which we need to reckon.

Review Quotes

Praise for Lessons from Plants:

"An accessible and, thankfully, jargon-free introduction to a science that has advanced a great deal recently―and has revolutionized the way that we look at our evolutionary predecessors . . . For the curious, Lessons from Plants is an excellent introduction to a world that most of us know too little about."
―Richard Schiffman, Christian Science Monitor

"Offers a deep engagement with plant lives, showing how growing our plant awareness can benefit our understanding of human societies and relationships."
―LSE Review of Books

"An invitation to awareness, awe, and curiosity. Beronda Montgomery takes us deep into the sophisticated and life-giving behaviors and community lives of plants, giving us evergreen lessons about resilience and diversity along the way."
―David George Haskell, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Forest Unseen and John Burroughs Medal winner The Songs of Trees

"A fascinating look at the adaptive behavior of plants, how they respond to their environments and neighbors―and, ultimately, what we can learn from them. A brilliant read for gardeners."
―Psychologies

"Thoughtful, contemplative, factual, and philosophical; it's quite different to any other plant biology-based book I've read."
―Nigel Chaffey, Botany One

About the Author

Beronda L. Montgomery is an award-winning plant biologist, dean at Grinnell College, and author of the acclaimed Lessons from Plants (Harvard University Press, 2021). She has been named one of the journal Cell's 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America, and was awarded the 2021 Cynthia Westcott Science Writing Award and 2022 Adolph E. Gude, Jr. Award for outstanding service to the science of plant biology. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Plant Biologists, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Academy of Microbiology.