A dwarf mistletoe can shoot its seeds up to 50 feet away. The Arctic heather plant can create subtropical conditions within its leaves. Often exposed to bitter cold, relentless winds, intense heat, drought, fire, pollution and other adverse conditions, such plants demonstrate remarkable strategies for surviving their environment. Jesse Vernon Trail's first book, Quiver Trees, Phantom Orchids and Rock Splitters (ECW Press, 2015), highlights the world's most unusual plants for a general audience of plant and nature enthusiasts. Quiver Trees is also a fact-filled reference source on some of the lesser-known plants that populate landscapes around the world. Jesse Vernon Trail is an instructor and curriculum developer in environment, ecology, sustainability issues, horticulture and the natural history of plants. His articles have been published in The Ecologist, Garden Making, Canadian Gardening, Plant and Garden, Fine Gardening, Gardenwise, Harrowsmith Country Life, Alive, and Outdoor Canada. He lives in Vernon, B.C.

BOOKS:

Quiver Trees, Phantom Orchids and Rock Splitters: The Remarkable Survival Strategies of Plants (ECW Press, 2015) $24.95 CAD ISBN: 978-1-77041-208-8

[BCBW 2015]