It turns out that the trees of the monkey ball are big poplars. Besides the puns, we found out that the Pittsburghs were very i...
It turns out that the trees of the monkey ball are big poplars.
Besides the puns, we found out that the Pittsburghs were very interested in finding information about unique trees in our area. 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 other people shared their wonders with monkey balls 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 Tree Pittsburgh. 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 them?
It turns out that about 10% of plants produce latex, but that does not mean it's a viable product, explains Isaac.
"Most factories do not produce enough latex or produce a type of latex that requires much more treatment, so it's not worth using them," 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 focused on the use of plant latex for the manufacture of products, monkey balls have not been used in this way despite this fact, 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 bean ( Maclura pomifera ) are part of the same family and the Moraceae family also contains figs and blackberries," explained Isaac.
We had an apple tree on our farm, which we called banana, because the apple had banana flavor. who was
Can we try it first?
Second, says Isaac, there's an apple variety called Winter Apple Banana, which is native to the Indiana state 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 other than apples were not native to North America, 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.
The "Toby" tree is a Yinzer word for the Catalpa trees in the north and south, 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 black and golden caterpillars.
Some call these "pure" trees, though Stavish does not really recommend smoking these bean pods as they get sick.
His name is a phrase from Pittsburgh, Stavish said, but "there is 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, Isaac said.
"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 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 because of the difficulty of separating them, they are rarely made into chunks and are quite expensive compared to English walnuts." Black walnuts also have a much stronger taste. Nut biscuits specially designed to crack black nuts and nuts (belonging to the same family as nuts), "he added.
Moreover, according to Stavish, people consider them a "messy" tree, given their rotting shell and their spotty colors.
"The average person has just lost the favor (for the tree) due to clutter caused by leaves and nuts," he said.
