Magnificent Trees of Indiana

"In Magnificent Trees of Indiana, Ritter takes readers across the state to witness places and scenes harboring benign giants that delight your mind to the point of committing to visit them yourself. For any of these places or specimen trees, I now feel I must go there, I must see it for myself, but if that cannot be, then I feel content that the passages and photos have taken me there instead. Along the way, I learn of the history, lore, and practical uses surrounding our special trees. From the beginning, our Hoosier heritage has been closely tied to these stately organisms. This book enlivens that connection and clarifies that a world without trees is not a world we could bear. This book provides a beckoning: Ritter takes our hands and leads us into their midst, softly encouraging us to be thoughtful of these mighty and magnificent beings that still live among us." —John P. Stambaugh, forester

"Magnificent Trees brings together Indiana forest history with beautiful photos of present-day large specimen trees. This book is a concise and practical guide for adventurous tree-lovers to find some of Indiana's largest and most majestic trees alive and growing today." —James R. McKenna, tree breeder

"The numerous, extraordinarily beautiful images of Indiana's remaining natural areas and some of the very special trees found in them are a delight worth looking at over and over again. These alone make Magnificent Trees of Indiana a book that everyone interested in Indiana's plants will delight in reading. Seeing them is both thrilling and calming—like a good walk in the woods—but the incredibly well-written text that provides information on the history of the trees and their surroundings is an unbelievably entertaining and amazing treat. Not only is 'magnificent' a good descriptive word for Indiana's trees, it also applies to the exceptionally creative writing the author has done about them." —Kay Yatskievych, research associate, Missouri Botanical Garden

"Carroll Ritter's Magnificent Trees of Indiana is an excellent addition to the library of anyone interested in Indiana's natural history—its forests and its biological diversity. Ritter is an exceptional naturalist and an excellent writer. In this wonderful volume, he brings the reader from the ancient times to the present, and from landscapes to individual old growth tracts. We learn about Indiana's biggest trees, the remaining old growth forests, and about odd and curious trees as well. Ritter's discussion of many individual tree species and old growth sites, in separate essays, brings the reader right into the quiet forest, periodically startled as a heron takes wing, or inspired as a bald eagle soars overhead. The text about these individual nature preserves describes the cliffs and canyons, floodplain forests, upland oak-hickory forests, and rich mesic beech-maple forests that visitors will encounter. Magnificent Trees of Indiana can be returned to often as a reference or enjoyed as a pleasant read at a quiet time." —John A. Bacone, Director Emeritus, Indiana Division of Nature Preserves, Indiana Department of Natural Resources