Bark
An Intimate Look at the World's Trees

This extraordinary book is the culmination of ten years of photography dedicated to finding the most beautiful examples of tree bark around the globe.
Here are the most spectacular, striking and remarkable examples of bark found across the five continents. Each image is a work of art in itself, and is accompanied by a photograph of the tree in its natural environment, along with information about its origins and uses.
Cédric Pollet has combined his scientific background and his passion for plants to create a highly informative text, which compliments the beauty of his photographs. Already a bestseller in France, where it was awarded the Redouté Prix Artistique for 2009, Bark will delight and inspire any nature lover.

To visit Cedric Pollet's website click here

Europe Section :
Betula pendula : Silver Birch
Platanus x acerifolia : London Plane Tree
Taxus baccata : Yew
Populus alba : White Poplar
Castanea sativa : Sweet Chestnut
Olea europaea : Olive
Pinus pinaster : Maritime Pine
Pinus pinea : Umbrella Pine
Quercus suber : Cork Oak
Arbutus andrachne : Grecian Strawberry Tree

America Section :
Sequioadendron giganteum : Giant Sequoia
Betula papyrifera : Paper Birch
Taxodium distichum : Baldcypress
Ficus aurea : Florida Strangler Fig
Bursera simaruba : Gumbo Limbo
Sabal palmetto : Cabbage Palm
Roystonea regia : Cuban Royal Palm
Arbutus menziesii : Pacific Madrone
Sequoia sempervirens : Coast Redwood
Arctostaphylos obispoensis : San Luis Obispo Manzanita
Cupressus glabra : Smooth Arizona Cypress
Pinus longaeva : Great Basin Bristlecone Pine
Parkinsonia florida : Blue Palo verde
Fouquieria splendens : Ocotillo
Washingtonia robusta : Mexican Fan Palm
Nolina longifolia : Oaxacan Pony Tail
Acacia sphaerocephala : Bull's Horn Acacia
Psidium guajava : Guava
Carica papaya : Papaya
Pseudobombax ellipticum : Shaving Brush Tree
Ceiba pentandra : Kapok Tree
Guaiacum officinale : Guaiac
Heva brasiliensis : Rubber Tree
Polylepis australis : Tabaquillo
Myrtus luma : Chilean Myrtle

Oceania Section :
Cyathea medullaris : Black Tree Fern
Agathis australis : New Zealand Kauri
Xanthorrhoea australis : Grass Tree
Eucalyptus coccifera : Tasmanian Snow Gum
Eucalyptus spathulata : Swamp Mallet
Eucalyptus camaldulensis : River Red Gum
Eucalyptus sclerophylla : Hard-leaved Scribbly Gum
Eucalyptus dorrigoensis : Dorrigo White Gum
Angophora costata : Sydney Red Gum
Corymbia maculata : Spotted Gum
Corymbia citriodora : Lemon-scented Gum
Melaleuca quinquenervia : Broad-leaved Paperbarks
Brachychiton rupestris : Bottle Tree
Araucaria cunninghamii : Hoop Pine

Asia Section :
Phyllostachys pubescens : Moso Bamboo
Eucalyptus deglupta : Rainbow Eucalyptus
Metroxylon sagu : Sago Palm
Cyrtostachys renda : Lipstick Palm
Ficus benjamina : Weeping Fig
Cinnamomum verum : Ceylon Cinnamon
Musa basjoo : Japanese Banana
Prunus serrula : Tibetan Cherry
Betula albosinensis : Chinese Red Birch
Betula utilis : Himalayan Birch
Zelkova sinica : Chinese Zelkova
Pinus bungeana : Lacebark Pine
Stewartia pseudocamellia : Japanese Stewartia
Lagerstroemia 'Natchez' : 'Natchez' Crape Myrtle
Acer griseum : Paperbark Maple
Acer davidii : Père David's Maple
Parrotia persica : Persian Ironwood
Gleditsia caspica : Caspian Locust

Africa Section :
Adansonia digitata : African Baobab
Dracaena cinnabari : Dragon's Blood Tree
Boswellia elongata : Frankincense Tree
Sterculia africana var. socotrana : Soqotri Star-chestnut
Adenium socotranum : Soqotri Desert Rose
Ensete ventricosum : Abyssinian Banana
Ravenala madagascariensis : Traveler's Tree
Borassus aethiopium : African Palmyra Palm
Bismarckia nobilis : Bismarck Palm
Adansonia rubrostipa : Fony Baobab
Pachypodium geayi : Madagascar Palm
Euphorbia plagiantha : Flank-flowered Spurge
Commiphora marlothii : Paper-bark Corkwood
Aloe dichotoma : Quiver Tree
Cyphostemma juttae : Namibian Grape

INTRODUCTION
I was born in Nice, a region of France that abounds with a lush natural beauty, made even more alluring by that subtle quality of light that artists love so much. My family's roots are in two different regions of France - the Mediterranean on my mother's side and the Savoy on my father's. This particular combination gave me, from the very earliest age, the chance to get to know the world of trees: the olive trees, umbrella pines, eucalyptus and other exotics of my mother's part of the world and the larches, spruces, beech trees and silver birches of my father's. My deep-seated passion for plants found its first actual expression while I was studying for my degree in agricultural engineering at Lyon. In 1999, I had the opportunity to study in the Landscape Design department at Reading University. It was during that time that, full of enthusiasm for English gardens, I first taught myself to take pictures using the classic silver-process photography technique. After spending a lot of time visiting gardens in search of what I hoped would be my ideal subject, I realised one day that flowers didn't really do much for me. But I couldn't leave without some kind of souvenir. On my way out of that garden, the gnarled trunk of a centuries-old oak tree caught my attention and literally opened my eyes to a hitherto unknown domain: the world of bark. It turned out to be a revelation that changed the course of my life.
Several months later, returning to my native Cote d'Azur, I began to take notice of the trees in its avenues, parks and public gardens; it felt as if I were visiting my home town for the first time. Before then I had been blinded by the brilliantly exuberant displays bougainvillea, lagerstroemias and oleanders; after that visit, my ideas underwent a radical change of direction. The ubiquitous plane trees, relegated in so many towns to the role of background street furniture, turned into a source of never-ending inspiration for me; my new-found love for its bark encouraged me to travel far afield - to the terraces of paddy fields and the high mountain lakes - in my efforts to capture images of it. From that moment on, I felt that native trees (be they planes, strawberry trees, white poplars, pines and so on) were just as interesting as their rivals from foreign lands (eucalyptus, monkey puzzle trees, the cajeput, banana trees, palms and so on). In fact, the idea of seeing trees in their native habitat began to interest me more and more. Still, it would have been hard to imagine then that my sudden and inexplicable attraction to bark would become, just a few years later, my future career. I put together, for my father's 52nd birthday, a photographic exhibition entitled Vortex, consisting solely of assembled photographs I had taken of bark. This exhibition caught the eye of an art expert who urged me to continue down this path...

EUROPE
Yew
Taxus baccata
Found throughout Europe, the yew has long been under threat of extinction, particularly during the Middle Ages when armies exploited its properties of flexibility and hardness to make their bows and other weapons. Although the wood is also highly prized for its attractive reddish grain, the reputation of yew has suffered because all parts of the tree are extremely poisonous, apart from the red flesh of the little fruits, each one containing a single seed which itself is highly poisonous. The very slow growth rate of yew has in part been responsible to its decline. In France, for example, there are only a few ancient yew plantations left, mainly in Normandy, but there are a few rare relics of yew forests left too, like the one at Saint Baume in Provence. In the last few decades, scientific research into the anti-cancer properties of yew may have served to halt its decline - in the nick of time.

White poplar
Populus alba
The white poplar extends over a huge territory from the southern and central parts of Europe as far as southern Siberia and the Himalayas. It is a species that spreads rapidly by suckers, in particular along water courses. Copious quantities of seeds are produced, each encased in a little parachute, which enables the seeds to disperse very easily in the wind or in water. Its foliage, dark green on the upper side of the leaves, and white and downy on the underside, flutters constantly in even the lightest of breezes. The white trunk is covered with lozenge-shaped scars, little 'openings' in the bark that help the tree to breathe*. Poplars belong to the willow family and their young shoots have been used for centuries. Willow is highly regarded for its healing properties, in particular for the bark from which aspirin is obtained.