From ancient acorns to future forests, the story of how oaks evolved and the many ways they shape our world. An oak begins its life with the precarious journey of a pollen grain, then an acorn, then a seedling. A mature tree may shed millions of acorns, but only a handful will grow. One oak may then live 100 years, 250 years, or even 13,000 years. But the long life of an individual is only a part of these trees’ story. With naturalist and leading researcher Andrew L. Hipp as our guide, Oak Origins takes us through a sweeping evolutionary history, stretching back to a population of trees that lived more than 50 million years ago. We travel to the ancient tropical Earth to see the ancestors of the oaks evolving side by side with the dinosaurs. We journey from the oaks’ childhood in the once-warm forests of the Arctic to the montane cloud forests of Mexico and the broad-leaved evergreen forests of Southeast Asia. We dive into current research on oak genomes to see how scientists study genes’ movement between species and how oaks evolve over generations—spanning tens of millions of years. Finally, we learn how oak evolutionary history shapes the forests we know today, and how it may even shape the forests of the future. Oaks are familiar to almost everyone, and beloved. They are embedded in our mythology. They have fed us, housed us, provided wood for our ships and wine barrels and homes and halls, planked our roads, and kept us warm. Every oak also has the potential to feed thousands of birds, squirrels, and mice and host countless insects, mosses, fungi, and lichens. But as Oak Origins makes clear, the story of the oaks’ evolution is not just the story of one important tree. It is the story of the Tree of Life, connecting all organisms that have ever lived on Earth, from oaks’ last common ancestor to us. “In Oak Origins , the evolutionary biologist Hipp traces Quercus ’s mighty family tree back millions of years to its modest roots, when a single population began to diverge from its relatives in the beech family. How did oaks evolve into so many species? Why were they able to spread so widely? And what is their future likely to be? . . . Hipp writes lucidly, and even lyrically in places, such as his brief evocations of spring and autumn in the upper Midwest and his extended metaphor likening oaks’ genetic recombination to Miles Davis’s ‘Pharaoh’s Dance.’ . . . [A] rich and thoughtful account.” -- Gerard Helferich ― The Wall Street Journal " Oak Origins illuminates thoroughly both the great trees that are its subject and the part they play in the tree of life. It is dense with detail, and through it we learn about wasps and jays, fungi and human migration—countless parts of the world's ecology that touch oaks and 'ferry sun-energy through the forest.' . . . . Although the wood can be rigid, the living tree's organization and diversification are not, as Hipp's book amply demonstrates. Anyone working in the environmental sector or with a passing interest in oaks should read it." ― Times Literary Supplement "In many parts of the world, if you take a walk in the woods, you are likely to encounter an oak tree. With 425 species worldwide, their collective abundance may lead one to believe these trees are somewhat unremarkable—a fixture we take for granted. But Hipp, a botanist and research director at the Morton Arboretum in Illinois, reveals that oaks are a dynamic and essential part of the forest. . . . Oaks’ capacity to hybridize without merging brings out fascinating nuances in the so-called Tree of Life. . . . Hipp gently guides readers through these complexities, laying the groundwork for lucid explanations about the trees’ evolution and biology. . . . Oaks are primed with genetic flexibility that allows them to solve ecological problems. But the current rise in global temperatures far outpaces its fastest previous climb, posing a problem even these 'protean' adapters cannot solve without human intervention. Hipp’s work shows that conserving oak species will preserve invaluable nodes in our genetic web." -- Dana Dunham ― Scientific American "Hipp’s protagonists in Oak Origins are oak trees, of which there are hundreds of species, and with genetics as his guide, Hipp expertly tells the story of how these species came to be and manage to keep on being. . . . The patience with which he explores and explains the morphology and evolutionary history of oak trees carries within it the timbre of a quiet hymn sung in praise of this divine-like fact: We organisms enjoy the privilege of living only because our genes are tethered through time to the Tree of Life that birthed us all. . . . Hipp’s book has deepened my understanding of and appreciation for the Quercus (oak), Carya (hickory), Acer (maple) and Pinus (pine) that populate my yard and spread their seed. May their resiliency and optimism for the future be our own." -- Patrick Roberts ― Newcity "[ Oak Origins ] drops extraordin