Woody-stemmed plants appeared on earth some 360 million years ago, with some 64,000 known species now represented by an estimated 3 trillion individuals. The first pines and hardwoods evolved about 150
and 125 million years ago respectively, and our maples and oaks are only 67 and 56 million years old. But this stands in marked contrast to the ~7 million years of human evolution, and a mere 300,000 years for
Homo sapiens. 

Not only is there growing evidence that through their eons of evolution trees have established sophisticated communication systems, now dubbed the 'Wood Wide Web', but we might also imagine that they have kept a careful watch on our own species as we halved their number since we developed agriculture - and, sadly, we can all too readily conclude that they have been extremely disappointed with our behaviour.

These images identify a few of the more obvious individual trees that stand sentinel to our misdeeds, with the hope that it might help us enjoy, cherish, and properly honour their gaze.