It turns out that the trees of the monkey ball are big poplars. Besides the puns, we found out that the Pittsburghs were partic...
It turns out that the trees of the monkey ball are big poplars.
Besides the puns, we found out that the Pittsburghs were particularly interested in knowing the unique trees of our region. Questions and comments on the Pecsburgh Monkey Ball Tree, where you can ask your own questions about trees or other secrets of Pittsburgh and try to solve them.
Some readers shared the memories of monkey balls, like the one who said, "There is a hill, the Lebanon Road, Osage Road, we have monkey balls rolled under cars!
For Anthony Boff, we seem to have answered a long-standing question: "Excellent article, I was wondering why our orange trees were planted by Osage. Our house was built in 1820 at Bethel Park."
And another reader told us, "The monkey oil from the" Monkey Ball "is sold by Limelife from Alcone, it's a fantastic moisturizer for the skin, totally natural." Yes, it seems to be real that we can not answer for ourselves.
Many others shared their wonders about the balls of monkeys and other trees. So we asked the experts to speak for the trees: Bonnie Isaac, director of botany at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Joe Stavish, coordinator of municipal education. in the pittsburgh tree. They say:
Is the inside of a monkey balls really latex? If so, can they be used for this purpose? If not, what can we do with it?
It turns out that about 10% of plants produce latex, but that does not mean that it is a viable product, explained Isaac.
"Most factories do not produce enough latex or produce a type of latex that requires much more processing, so it's not economical to use," he said. "The latex is produced by plants to protect them from consumption, and insects that feed on plants tend to avoid plants that produce latex."
Although research has investigated the latex of plants for the production of products, monkey balls were not used in this way, but Stavish said.
"Sometimes we get so new applications for the natural products: There might be a student at the CMU who says, 'Hey, I could study that,' he said.
Do monkey balls prevent moisture and are (possibly) a natural insect repellent?
Probably no.
"The osage (monkey balls) orange fruits contain about 80% water," said Isaac. "I do not see how that would prevent moisture from entering."
Stavish agreed and found that they collapsed quickly.
"I think you'll have a big mess of fruit flies and rotten porridge," he said.
Are monkey trees linked to the fruit trees of Caribbean bread?
Yes!
"The fruit trees of the bread ( Artocarpus altilis) and the trees of the monkey ball ( Maclura pomifera ) belong to the same family and the Moraceae family also contains figs and blackberries," said Isaac.
We had an apple tree on our farm, which we call banana because the apple had banana flavor. who was
Can we try it first?
Second, Isaac said that there was actually an apple variety called Winter Banana Apple, which was native to the state of Indiana around 1875. It was introduced commercially in 1890.
"The winter banana apple is one of the few varieties of self-fertile apple, and most apples need a different apple variety to pollinate," he said. "Winter banana apples usually mature towards the end of October."
Apples were not native to North America, with the exception of apples, which means that the apples known today as Macintosh, Honeycrisp or Red Delicious were brought or produced. Stavish explained. The banana apple was probably a multitude of relics that were created years ago and lost over time.
Can you tell me something about the tree "Topi"?
The questioner probably means "Toby Trees", according to Stavish's hypothesis.
"Toby" is a Yinzer word for the northern and southern catalpa trees, which are known for their giant bean pods and heart-shaped leaves.
"Catalpa" is an Indian word of the Creek tribe, which means "head with wings", an indication of the petal of the flower.
People planted them at home, but they are not that common. The trees grow well near the water and attract there black and golden caterpillars.
Some call these "pure" trees, although Stavish does not really recommend smoking these bean pods as they get sick.
His name is a phrase from Pittsburgh, says Stavish, but "there's no reason to explain why people call them Toby Trees."
Where are the chestnuts? I wanted to show my grandson how we made rings and necklaces with them.
Buckeyes is closely associated with chestnuts found in various locations around Pittsburgh, including Schenley Park and Highland Park, said Isaac.
"There are chestnuts in the forest in many parts of southwestern Pennsylvania," he added. "There are two types of horse chestnuts from southwestern Pennsylvania, Yellow Buckeye ( Aesculus flava ) and Ohio Buckeye ( Aesculus glabra )."
The trees, most of which people called "horse chestnut", are probably "chestnut trees," Stavish said. They look similar, except for the pod in which they grow. Stefish says chestnuts and horse chestnuts are poisonous and inedible to humans.
Real chestnuts (American or Chinese chestnuts), like roasting in open fires, are different, he said.
Can you tell me more about our black nuts?
Black walnuts ( Juglans nigra ) are closely related to the English nuts we buy in grocery stores, but black walnuts have a much harder shell and are very hard to break, said Isaac. Opening black walnuts also takes a lot of time.
"They can buy cracked black walnuts, but due to the difficulty of their cracks, they are rarely made in large pieces and are quite expensive compared to English walnuts, and black walnuts also have a much stronger flavor." Nut biscuits specially designed to crack black nuts and nuts (belonging to the same family as nuts), "he added.
In addition, according to Stavish, people regard it as a "messy" tree because the rust rots and stains the colors.
"The average person just lost the favor (for the tree) because the damage was caused by leaves and nuts," he said.
