Finding the Mother Tree

Subtitle: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

Author: Suzanne Simard

Genre: Nonfiction, Nature, Science

Format: Digital Purchase

Publish Date: May 2021

Read: August 2024

Favorite Quote: The Coast Salish people think trees have personhood too. They teach that the forest is made of many nations living side by side in peace, each contributing to this earth.

Synopsis: Growing up in a logging family, Suzanne always knew she was meant to work in forestry. However, as an intern, her curiosity around why logged land was struggling to produce healthy trees thrust her into a life of forest ecology. Her experiments and work evolved into understanding how trees and the mycorrhizal networks worked together for the benefit of all the species in the forest.

Why does this book beguile? After reading Entangled Life, I wanted to read another nature book, so I pulled up Finding the Mother Tree on my Kindle. I was flabbergasted to learn that the majority of this book was about mycorrhizal networks - the same as Entangled Life! Sometimes, the universe works in strange ways.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the trees and how they benefit from these networks. Much of Simard's work is referenced in Entangled Life, including the term “wood-wide-web.” I also enjoyed how much Simard wove moments from her own life into this book about trees and fungus. It reads like a memoir but has a sneaky amount of science baked in (sometimes a bit too much). Overall, it’s an enjoyable book if you like nature books!

Rating: 4/5

Link*: Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard

If you’re interested in this, read*: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake