The Tree Collector: The Life and Explorations of David Douglas

David Douglas was one of the most important botanical collectors of all time. Thanks to his heroic often unimaginably arduous explorations during which he collected and discovered more than 200 species forests and gardens are immeasurably richer. Not only is the Douglas fir named after him but conifers such as the Sitka spruce the Grand and Noble firs and the Monterey pine were introduced to Britain by him. Douglas who grew up near Perth Scotland studied at the Botanical Gardens in Glasgow under William Hooker the greatest botanist of the 19th century. He made his name through his remarkable excursions of western Canadaonce walking nearly 10 000 miles between the Pacific coast and Hudson Bay.