The Ancients

Discovering the world's oldest surviving trees in wild Tasmania

Andrew Darby

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English

Allen & Unwin
01 March 2025

Mathematics & Sciences; Conservation of the environment; Trees, wildflowers & plants

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In wild Tasmania there are trees whose direct ancestors lived with dinosaurs. Many of those alive today are thousands of years old, and some have been growing for ten millennia or more. They are mostly hard to reach, hidden in forest valleys or on remote mountains, survivors of human greed and fire.

Prize-winning nature writer Andrew Darby takes us on an island odyssey to discover the world's oldest surviving trees. First, he seeks the little-known King's Lomatia, perhaps the oldest single tree of all. Then the primeval King Billy, Pencil and Huon pines - with their vivid stories of admiration and destruction - and the majestic giant eucalypts. Finally, he looks at the 'mother tree', the Myrtle Beech, and Australia's only native winter deciduous tree, the golden Fagus.

On his journey he shares the stories of the people who identified the ancients - scientists and nature-lovers who teased out their secrets and came to venerate them. Lacking defences to fire, these awe-inspiring trees face growing threats as the climate changes. But their protection is becoming more sophisticated, offering hope for their future - and ours.

'The quiet magnificence of nature is reflected in the lyrical elegance of Darby's prose.' - Jonathan Green, ABC Radio's Blueprint for Living

'The Ancients will be relished by anyone who cares about the extraordinary island of Tasmania' - Nicholas Shakespeare, novelist and biographer

By: Andrew Darby
Imprint: Allen & Unwin
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
Weight: 356g
ISBN: 9781761069239
ISBN 10: 1761069233
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 01 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Flame ONE Camouflage King's Lomatia TWO Dinosaur King Billy Pine THREE Pine of Olympus Pencil Pine FOUR Water Tree Huon Pine FIVE Overshadow Giant Eucalypts SIX The Green Myrtle Beech SEVEN The Gold Fagus Author's note Chapter notes

Andrew Darby is the author of Flight Lines, on long distance migratory shorebirds, and Harpoon on whales and whaling. Flight Lines won the Royal Zoological Society of NSW's Whitley Award for the Best Natural History, and the Premier's Prize for Non-fiction in the Tasmanian Literary Awards. It was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Award for Non-fiction. He was the Hobart correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.