The Birch is a celebration of one of the most widespread, beautiful, useful, and inspiring of trees – the birch, a group of species that occur across the middle and high latitudes of Europe, Asia, and North America. The author provides an overview of birch ecology and then shifts his focus to the economic, social and spiritual roles of the birch among peoples of North America, Europe, and Asia.
The Birch concludes with a discussion of the birch in art and literature, and the ancient alliance between people and trees. This is an accessible, friendly book containing 17 line drawings by the author-artist.
John L Peyton, a native of Proctor, Minnesota, had extensive contact with the Ojibway Indians early in the 20th century. He is well known in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin as an artist specialising in the northern forest: its creatures, people, places, and events.