Quest for Holy Grail. (Clippings).

Thomas Pakenham is in search of the Holy Grail of trees. The spirit of 19th-century nature explorers lives on in the British historian, who has spent the last decade chronicling the lives of the world's most dramatic trees, many of which are in danger of destruction. Pakenham's book Meetings With Remarkable Trees showcased 60 individual and groups of trees in Britain and Ireland; he's now hunting for another 60 remarkable trees scattered throughout the globe.

Remarkable Trees of the World, the latest hook by the British writer and photographer, chronicles trees from North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and New Zealand. Pakenham told the Washington Post that he is particularly drawn to ancient trees. "We revere mountains and rivers," he said, "but we connect to old trees. After all, we share their mortality."

Among the trees shown in the book: Tule, Mexico's monster Montezuma cypress; a gum tree with a steel-spiked spiral staircase that reaches 207 feet from base to canopy; and Dr. Seuss-like baohab trees from Madagascar that resembled "gigantic root vegetables."