Trees of the Great Basin: A Natural History by Ronald M. Lanner (review)

Reviews 63 Trees of the Great Basin: A Natural History. By Ronald M. Lanner. (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1984. 256 pages, $19.50 cloth, $12.50 paper.) This is first-rate natural history, combining the pleasure of solid informa­ tion with a certain elevation and grace of style that bring the book into the literary realm. The writing is imagistically sharp, showing that the author truly loves his subject and has actually walked the territory of the title. Lanner’s strategy is to take the book past the level of the field guide or reference work by adopting an ecological approach. For example, showing the interdependence among Clark’s nutcracker, limber pines, and bristlecone pines gives depth; we go beyond both simple identification and the quick, romantic apprehension of scenery. Now we have an idea of how those beau­ tiful trees, in dramatic ridge-top locations, got started where they are. As another example, the treatment of the formation, life, and death of aspen groves is informed by ecological knowledge and by a strong sense of successional time, putting this interesting species in full context. The book offers good instruction. Ecology is shown not as theory but as present and verifiable happenings, with the aesthetic dimension prominent: Even after death a bristlecone pine continues to transfigure its surroundings. Great old snags stand like bleached tombstones, finally tottering only when the bases of their roots rot away, unbal­ ancing them. Or water drips into checks in their dried surfaces, freezes and thaws, and eventualy splits off massive slabs, exposing to the light wood that has reflected none in its thousands of years. The drawings, by Christine Rasmuss, are likewise informative and evoca­ tive, and the color photographs seem well-chosen either to illustrate typical sites or to bring out characteristics of certain species. The University of Nevada Press, supported by a grant from the Fleischmann Foundation, has projected a major series on the natural history of the heretofore neglected Great Basin. Trees of the Great Basin is the first in the series, and a remarkably auspicious beginning. THOMAS J. LYON Utah State University Women of the West. By Cathy Luchetti in collaboration with Carol dw ell. (St. George, Utah: Antelope Island Press, 1982. 240 pages, $25.00.) Among the various publications of the past several years which attempt to correct the long neglect of women’s roles in the history of the American West, Women of the West is a unique and valuable contribution. A com­ ...