Trees in Paradise: The Botanical Conquest of California

At the intersection of plants and politics, Trees in Paradise tells a story of ecological mythmaking and conquest. After the gold rush, the Americans who claimed California were dissatisfied with the state's wetlands, grasslands, and chaparral. In just one century, they transformed those landscapes according to the aesthetic values and economic interests of settlers, urban planners, and boosters. In Southern California, entrepreneurs amassed fortunes from vast citrus groves; in the Bay Area, speculators invested in nonnative eucalyptus, only to let their plantations go wild; and across the state, developers and designers used palms to sell the California Dream to tourists and homebuyers. Meanwhile, thousands of old-growth redwoods were logged to satisfy an insatiable suburban demand. Revealing differing visions of what the Golden State should be, this natural and unnatural history unravels the network of forces that shape our sense of place.