How about a yellow wood? Or a poinciana? If you do, then two young arbourists would like to talk to you.

Mr. Darren Sleeth, 27, and Mr. Andrew Barber, 19, have made a living in the past few years out of climbing and measuring trees, and now they would like to document those that are among the most interesting or unusual on the Island.

"What we would do with our information would really depend on the sort of response we get, the quality of the information,'' Mr. Sleeth said this week from the graveyard of St. John's Church in Pembroke, where he was clearing away a tree that had been overcome by rot.

Later on, in the shade of an Indian laurel, he continued: "What I would really like to do, if I had my choice, is a little booklet, a kind of `Champion Trees of Bermuda'. For the most part, it would include a lot of information on local trees, and hopefully be of interest to everyone.'' Ideally, the young arbourist explained, the booklet would concentrate mostly on trees that are endemic to Bermuda, although, realistically speaking, he and Mr. Barber have accepted that they will probably have to broaden their scope.

"I would like to just work with endemic trees, but I don't think there are enough left for that,'' he said, adding that a catalogue of strictly native trees would probably be "a short list and not very interesting to many people.'' Interest, Mr. Sleeth told The Royal Gazette , is one of things that the duo are hoping a catalogue will stimulate among Bermudians, who are not as well-versed on the subject of trees as they possibly could be.

"There is a lack of interest,'' Mr. Sleeth pointed out, "and that is because there is a general lack of knowledge. If people had the knowledge, the interest would likely be there.'' Enter the proposed booklet, which in principle would catalogue such data as a tree's height, age, crown (or top) spread, bowl (or trunk circumference) and any other interesting ephemera like the oldest or widest or tallest tree.

"If we get a good response from the public,'' Mr. Sleeth told The Royal Gazette , "it would no doubt be beneficial to a lot of people. Andrew and I, for instance, would get to look at a lot of interesting trees, and the people of Bermuda would have this information at their disposal.'' When collecting their information, Mr. Sleeth and Mr. Barber are hoping to include a large number of public trees as subjects for the booklet. "For instance,'' Mr. Sleeth said, "there's a big silk cotton (tree) near Marsh Folly that I would like to measure straight away, because it's there for everyone to see. It's not hidden away in someone's garden.'' At the same time, he added, the arbourists are hoping that residents will also take this opportunity to share their own interesting trees with the Island.

"We will get the information together,'' Mr. Sleeth outlined for Taste . "If people can provide their measurements, that would be great. But if not, they can just drop us a line and we would be more than willing to come up and do the deed.'' Anyone who is interested in sharing information on a tree can do so leaving a message for Mr. Sleeth at 291-3458.