Mysteries of Trees

 

I had a marvelosity in nature last autumn and my teacher was a ginko tree, wrote David from Ancaster.

Ginko trees are actually living fossils and they are what botanists call 'dioecious'. That is to say, they come as either 'male or female' trees. So, imagine my surprise when my supposedly male tree started producing seeds last fall just like a female tree. I was a little annoyed because the seeds of the female tree can be very messy and smelly when they fall to the ground ~ and for that reason, nurseries only sell male trees.

Returning to the nursery, I mentioned to the owner that he had sold me a 'female tree' by mistake. His first question to me was, “How many ginko trees do you have on your property?”

Telling him that I had four in total, he stated: “I sold you a 'male tree' but ginko trees can change their sex depending on the population density of the sex of those around them. Your male tree just decided that it had to become a female. They can do that!”

So, that's what Nature had to teach me about diversity.

Now, about all those seeds on the ground ~ I still love my tree, even if 'he' is a 'she'!

Lots of trees are hermaphroditic ~ their flowers contain both male and female reproductive parts.

Other species, also may have male trees and female trees which you can tell apart by looking at their flowers. The male reproductive parts are the pollen-laden stamen; the female parts, their egg-holding pistils. Tree species are monoecious ~ saying they have 'female and male flowers' on the same plant.

Birch, oak, pine, horn beam, and fig trees all fall into this category. To have perfect flowers, they have both male and female parts in a single bloom ~ also common in hazelnut and apple trees.

A Place of Enchantment

In a pond of quiet waters, surrounded by dense green woodland, stands a lonely tree on a tiny isle.~ ever so proud of its existence. This scene I frequently view on screen ~ speaking to me of 'serenity'.

Or, perhaps this tree on a lonely woodland isle believes “Trees are Earth's Endless Effort to speak to the listening heaven,” suggested by Rabindranath Tagore...in an image of evergreen treetops with an erect rainbow stretching from forest to the heavens.

Mrs. Shapiro briefly described the 'Power of a Tree'

Towering high above us
Roots take up water
Evergreens stay green all year
Every day they keep us alive!

Perhaps you'll enjoy what Ulena Mohoney prosed:

If chestnuts came from walnut trees
And almonds came from almond trees,
Then how come acorns come from oaks?
Can anyone explain this?

A redwood tree is not really red
And pine trees are green ~ not red.
So, why is the white birch aptly named?
And why's the white pine green instead?

Now, ash trees don't grow ashes. Right?
And beach trees aren't on beaches. Right?
And fir trees don't have furry trunks:
Although, that would be quite a sight!

These trees! These Trees!
I wish it would be less confusing in the word!
If trees had better chosen names ~
They might be better understood!

“The clearest way into the Universe,” stated John Muir, “is through a forest wilderness.”

Philosophies About Tree Mysteries

“Trees are sanctuaries.
Whoever knows how to speak to them ~
knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.
They do not preach learning and concepts ~
they preach, undeterred by particulars:
the Ancient Law of Life.”
(Unknown Author)

Mokokoma's Philosophy

Plants are more courageous than almost all human beings: an orange tree would rather die,
than produce lemons ~ whereas, instead of dying, the average person would rather be someone, they are not.

Written by MBK...July 9, 2019
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