4 posts tagged “trees”
These are my dad's cherry trees. He planted them a few years ago and every year, the birds pick them clean before he gets any cherries.
The word cherry refers to both the tree and the fleshy fruit (drupe) that contains a single stony seed. The cherry belongs to the family Rosaceae, genus Prunus, along with almonds, peaches, plums, apricots and bird cherries. The subgenus, Cerasus, is distinguished by having the flowers in small corymbs of several together (not singly, nor in racemes), and by having a smooth fruit with only a weak groove or none along one side. The subgenus is native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with two species in North America, three in Europe, and the remainder in Asia. The word "cherry" comes from the French word "cerise," which comes in turn from the Latin words cerasum and Cerasus (the ancient name of the modern city of Giresun in Turkey, which is the world's largest cherry producer with 245,000 tonnes in 2006[1]).
The cherries selected for eating are derived primarily from two species, the Wild Cherry (P. avium), which has given rise to the Sweet Cherry to which most cherry cultivars belong, and the Sour Cherry (P. cerasus), used mainly for cooking and jam making. Both species originate in Europe and western Asia;
they do not cross-pollinate each other. The other species, although
having edible fruit, are not grown extensively for consumption, except
in northern regions where the two main species will not grow. Given the
high costs of production, from irrigation, sprays and labour costs, in
addition to their proneness to damage from rain and hail, the cherry is
relatively expensive. Nonetheless, there is high demand for the fruit. -- as per wikiPedia
My parents went through a phase of buying live Christmas trees and then planting them after Christmas. The one on the right was Christmas 1993, the year my nephew Anthony, was born.
As the tree was planted in honor of my nephew, we called it "the Jay-jo tree" (Jay-jo being his nickname for as long as he's been alive. The nickname is derived from the Sesame Street song about Jay Joe Jeans and his Jelly Beans. (Let's sing a song about J!) Does anyone remember that one anymore?)
Eight years ago, my parents' dog, a toy poodle named Buddy died (he had cancer in his mouth, a common affliction with toy and miniature poodles) and they buried him beneath the Jay-jo tree. Every year, my mother strings battery operated Christmas lights from it to keep Buddy company.
This red maple (acer rubum), sometimes called a scarlet maple or a "Scarlet King" was planted by my father 14 years ago, to commemorate the birth of my nephew, John William.
Acer rubrum, commonly known as Red Maple and less often as Swamp or Soft Maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas. Many of its features, especially its leaves, are quite variable in form. At maturity it often attains a height of around 25 metres (82 feet). It is aptly named as its flowers, petioles, twigs and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is most well known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in fall.
Over most of its range, red maple is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. It can be found growing in swamps, on poor dry soils, and most anywhere in between. Elevation is also not a limiting factor in its range, as it grows well from sea level to about 900 m (3,000 feet). Due to its attractive fall foliage and pleasing form, it is often used as a shade tree for landscapes. It is used commercially on a small scale for maple syrup production as well as for its medium to high quality lumber. It is also the State Tree of Rhode Island. -- as per WikiPedia
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