Scionwood Song

Scionwood Song

'Scionwood' is a forestry term to describe the snipping of a freshly-sprouted twig from one tree and grafting the twig with paraffin wax onto the exposed root of another tree of the same species. By 'marrying' two superior examples of an endangered tree species, the union produces a genetically enhanced offspring--their scion living on into the future. In my novel, scionwood symbolizes the deeds and thoughts of three characters--a young woman conservation officer, an endangered Jefferson salamander, and a tree--that seek to survive into their future. The sometimes violent tale describes the trio's efforts to upend a massive assault on Ontario's two-million-acre Greenbelt.