Jungle Trees of Central India

This is to inform you that we can now book a Collector’s Edition (just 2000 prints available) of the much awaited ‘Jungle Trees of Central India’ by Pradip Krishen of the ‘Trees of Delhi’ fame. We can book by writing in to tr…@in.penguingroup.com 

The details of the book (an uncorrected sampler), the author (who most of us know) and booking are given in the attachments below. 

I hope a lot of you will book this one. We have gone through the drafts and can assure you that this book is precious. It’s a must have for nature lovers and makes a lovely gift too for somebody who would value a piece of work like this one.

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Here it is at last – Penguin’s solicitation, and – for those of you who don’t know how this came about – the alternative to having to raise big sponsorship to float this book…

Pl feel free to forward this mailer to anyone you know who might be interested. Penguin needs 2000 copies ordered (but NOT paid for just yet) to make up the numbers.

Fingers crossed!

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Book Review of Jungle Trees of Central India by Pradip Krishen :  2 posts by 2 authors.

Book Review
Jungle Trees of Central India: A Field Guide for Tree Spotters by Pradip Krishen

What a breath of fresh air!
Going through this book, I am transposed to Central India amidst its trees.
The book covers nearly 200 species of wild trees with the aid of more than 2000 photographs.

Central India is redefined according to the ecosystem and hence cut across state boundaries, which is a very useful and appropriate approach.  The book unlocks the forests of the Central Indian ecosystem. For the first time, Central Indian ecosystems have been unravelled and the trees that make those ecosystems have been given their rightful place.

Tree identification is set in the framework of Leaf keys- simple, compound, toothed, lobed, pinnate and twice pinnate. Additional keys for flower, fruit and bark are also given. These additional keys highlight and bring out different facets of a tree. The bark key captures the varied barks of a single species, which is very useful in identifying a tree in the wild.

Photographs are the biggest advantage, and given the size of the book, are big and not merely bring out the identification features but the beauty of the trees themselves. Wonderful pictures. What I love about
the pictures is that  we get to see the mostly unseen Central Indian landscape, where trees are in their natural habitat.

The issues of classification of trees is addressed in this book too. Kankera has a different latin name from that of the earlier Trees of Delhi, thereby reflecting the ongoing debate of classification of trees.
Bigger book, weighty book, with large photographs, which can be taken to the field.

Why is this book so special and path breaking?
First of all, it celebrates the trees and the ecosystems of this vast region which is so central to India. All of us pass through it (mostly) either through rail or road if we have to go across the country from one end to the other.
Secondly, it celebrates the local mindscape and cosmology of trees-their names and uses.
Thirdly, for the first time we have one field guide for such a large region which not merely gives information about the various ecosystems, but has incredible photographs that celebrate the tree itself, and which help in identifying the tree.

It is a big book in many ways-scope, dimensions and vision. All achieved in a big way. Very very impactful.

What I love is that Central Indian languages have been given the prime importance. Trees names are given in the Central Indian languages.
Surrei is such a poetic name and so is Sal….If you search for Sal in the index, you will get the Sal family, but if you look up Surrei, you will get Surrei and Sal.

I, for one, would be carrying this book the next time I travel through Central India.

Right now, the premium edition is out. The regular edition will be out in March-April.  Price: Rs.1499/-

Must buy for people interested in trees especially of Central India.

One is inadvertantly drawn to a very subterranean if not an overt referencing(while using) and comparison(while reviewing) to his earlier book Trees of Delhi, especially in terms of the layout of the book, the vision, the identification keys, photographs etc. But though both are similar in some ways, they are different too. Somewhere the natural habitat gives the trees a different character and they come into their element, and this is the critical difference. Both books are a must have for all tree lovers. One only wishes for more books of
this kind. Perhaps the next book could be of Rajasthan and Gujarat? 

Thanks, …, for a beautiful review.

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He starts by describing quite literally, the ground beneath his feet viz., geological aspects as he traveled in the central part of India then sub-divides or classifies 9 types of forest. The keys identify and differentiate each tree species: bark key; flower key, fruit and leaf keys. The author depicts more than 200 tree barks with local names. Each tree species is described with several clear and precise photographs adopting the same format as in ‘Trees of Delhi’.

Definitely a worthy book for one’s library!

Today’s Times of India mentions a crusading hero, a BEST bus driver, Mr. Aaba Ranaware who is quote currently battling a Nerul housing society which has cut 50 trees unquote. Thanks to him hoarding advertisers have been fined for cutting down trees.

I echo Pradip Krishen opening words, ”I like trees” as do many of us…

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Fwd: BNHS invitation: Book launch – Jungle Trees [2 Attachments] :  1 post by 1 author. 1 attachment.

You will recall that we wrote to you in August 2013 with an offer to buy limited Special Edition copies of Pradip Krishen’s splendid new Jungle Trees of Central India. The object was to try and sell 2,000 copies of the book in order to support the extraordinary expense of publishing it as lavishly as we did. 

We had an amazing response and within three weeks 1,960 copies of the Special Edition had been ‘booked’. 

When this Edition was finally printed and made available in January 2014, however, some of you changed your minds, because only a little over 1,200 copies were actually paid for and dispatched. We understand that this may have been partly because of the much lower cost of the ordinary edition (available on Flipkart for 999/- for example) and partly because of the cumbersome procedures of ordering through Uread. The cost of shipping the book overseas was also a factor. 

We are reaching out to you again because we still need to ship just under 800 copies of the Special Edition. The price (Rs. 1,499) is more attractive now, because the MRP of the ordinary edition, with the next imprint, has been revised to Rs. 1,999. 

To make it simpler to buy, all you need to do this time is to send a cheque to and mentioning number of copies you want to the below address: 

Rakesh Chander

Penguin Books India

7^th Floor, Infinity Tower C,

DLF Cyber City, Phase – II,

Gurgaon – 122 002

Haryana

India

Tel: +91 124 478 5600 

*Cheque to be made in favor of “Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd.”

 *Amount of Cheque : Rs. 1499 per copy x Number of copies ordered 

*We can ship copies free of cost only within India 

We look forward to hearing from you (again) to order your copies.  

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