Palms in Cuba, magnolias in China or conifers in Vietnam – all around the world tree species are in serious trouble. While the extinction crisis and the fate of the world’s forests have been relatively high profile in the past two decades, rarely, if ever, is the fact that thousands of species of trees are threatened with extinction featured centre stage. And yet, of course, the serious conservation status of so many of the world’s trees is as great a cause for alarm as the threats to the tiger or panda.