Where does the olive tree come from?

Nowadays, most of the olives we eat come from Spain or Italy. However, the origin of the olive tree is found in the Middle East, where it was common throughout the Mediterranean Sea in biblical times. Traders later introduced olive seeds and cuttings or shoots to Europe and North Africa.

They never eat fresh olives from the tree. Fresh olives have a bitter taste, so they must be tanned in salt water or using other methods before they can be consumed.

The most important product of the olive tree is not the fruit itself, but its oil. The famous olive oil was so valuable in ancient times that people sometimes measured their wealth by the number of bottles of olive oil they owned.

Olive trees live so long that some trees that are still alive today may have produced olives in Christ's time!

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How do flowers attract insects?

 Some plants know how to attract nectar-seeking insects. For this they use chemical compounds that excite their sensitive vision to ultraviolet radiation.

In addition, the same substances repel other insects that try to feed on them, such as caterpillars. Even before the flower bud opens, it is covered with these substances called DIP, which have been discovered by a team of entomologists at Cornell University in the United States. The pigments dye the flower with a color invisible to the human eye, but perceptible to the ultraviolet vision of some pollinating insects, such as bees.

Researchers have found these pigments in Hypericum calycinum, a Southeastern European plant with uniform yellow flowers. For insects with ultraviolet-sensitive eyes, however, what stands out is a darker central point, towards which they will head without hesitation.

Now, experts are studying whether the visual patterns displayed could also help insects recognize one flower among many others.

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What is the maximum longevity of living beings?

Human beings can live a little more than 100 years, in fact, overcoming the century is already an achievement, as was the case of the French woman Jeanne Calmet, who reached a whopping 122 years. However, we are by no means the most long-lived beings on Earth. The oldest organism on the planet is a 250-million-year-old bacterium that survived "buried" in a salt crystal.

Plants are much longer-lived than animals. In the list of venerable earthly elders is the Greenland shark which have the longest known lifespan of all vertebrate species (estimated to be between 300–500 years), compared to the 5,000 reached by the Pinus longaeva. Other vegetables that win a prize for longevity are the Californian sequoia, with 4,000 years, and the olive tree, with 1,500.

But there are more facts on this list: the queen termite, a tiny animal, has turned 50, five years younger than the giant salamander from Japan.


LONG-LIVED VEGETABLES

• California Pinus longaeva - 5,000 years
• Baobab of Africa -4.000
• California Giant Sequoia - 4,000
• Sicilian Chestnut - 3,000 years old
• Larice of Lombardy - 2,200 years
• Welwitschia mirabilis of Namibia - 2,000 years
• Spanish Yew - 1,600 years old
• Olive tree of Spain - 1.500 years
• Ginkgo biloba from Tibet - 1,000 years
• Drago of Spain - 900 years

LONG-LIVED ANIMALS

• Greenland shark - 500 years old
• Greenland whale - 210 years old
• Homo sapiens - 122 years old
• Hermann's turtle - 120 years old
• Asian Elephant - 110 years old
• Sperm whale - 105 years old
• Tuátara - 100 years old
• Nile Crocodile - 80 years old
• Giant Tridacna - 60 years old
• Japan Giant Salamander - 55 years old
• Queen Termite - 50 years old

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What is grafting?

   Imagine an apple tree with bright-red Jonathan apples on one limb, Golden Delicious apples on another, and dark-red Winesaps on a third. It is possible to have just such a tree. The process called grafting makes it possible.

   Grafting means joining parts of two or more plants together so that they grow to be one plant. The top of a young crab apple tree, for example, may be cut off and the twig of another apple tree put in its place. The inner layer of the bark of a woody plant is called the cambium. It is made up of cells that are alive and growing. In grafting, the two cambium layers must come together.

   There are different ways of grafting. The joining is usually protected by a bandage or by a coating of wax.
Fruit trees grown from seeds are not likely to bear fruit just like the fruit that the seeds came from. For the little plant in the seed usually has two different trees as parents. If so, it is sure not to grow into a tree exactly like either parent. The only possible way of getting a new Golden Delicious apple tree is to graft a twig from a Golden Delicious tree on to the stem and roots of some other kind of tree. It may be another apple tree, or a quince tree.

   Grafted trees grow faster and bear sooner than trees raised from seed. The stem and roots already have a good start. Another advantage of grafting is that twigs of trees that are easily hurt by disease can be grafted on trees that are hardier.

   Fruit trees are not the only plants that are grafted. Grapevines, rosebushes, and lilac bushes are a few of the other plants that are often grafted. But only plants with woody stems can be grafted, and the parts must come from plants that are close relatives. It is fun to think of grafting a rose twig on a walnut tree and getting a rosebush 60 feet tall. But roses and walnuts are not close enough relatives to make such a rosebush possible.
 
Sometimes the top of a grafted plant may be broken off. Then the stem may send out branches and grow into its kind of plant. One man had a funny experience. He grafted twigs of two dwarf catalpa trees to the trunks of two young hardy catalpas. Then he planted the little trees side by side. They grew into very pretty umbrella-shaped trees about ten feet tall. Then a windstorm broke off the top of one tree. Soon the trunk of the damaged tree began to send out branches. It developed into a hardy catalpa nearly 30 feet tall. It and its former twin were a strange pair.

What is a Readfruit?

   The Osage orange is a common tree in parts of the United States. Farmers used to plant hedges of it on their farms. This tree bears fruits that look like green oranges. People often call them hedge apples. Hedge apples are pretty, but they are not good to eat. The Osage orange, however, has a cousin that bears big orange-shaped fruits that are good to eat. This cousin is the breadfruit tree.
   From its name it is easy to guess that bread can be made from its fruits. The fruits are not sweet like oranges and apples. Instead, they are starchy, like potatoes. If bread is to be made from it, a breadfruit is first sliced and dried. Then it is pounded up into flour. A breadfruit may also be roasted whole.
   The breadfruit tree grows only in very warm, wet lands. It is found chiefly on islands in the South Pacific. If a native of one of these islands is sitting under a bread-fruit tree, his dinner may drop into his lap.
   There are different kinds of breadfruit. Some kinds ripen at one time of year, some at another. In places where the trees grow, there is usually breadfruit to eat all the year around.

The ginkgo tree

   In America the ginkgo is often called the maidenhair tree. Its leaves are fan-shaped. Although the ginkgo is a distant relative of the pines and firs, it is not an evergreen. Its leaves turn yellow and fall off in the autumn.
   The fruit of the ginkgo has an unpleasant smell. But the seed inside is good to eat.
   This tree has lived on the earth for a very long time. The ginkgo trees we have now are almost exactly like their ancestors of ten million years ago.
   Once the ginkgo had many close relatives. But they all disappeared. The ginkgo, too, would probably have disappeared if the Chinese and Japanese had not planted ginkgo trees in their temple gardens. They thought of these trees as sacred.
   Ginkgoes are found in many cities. They are well liked partly because they have few insect enemies.

The ginseng plant

   The plant we call ginseng grows wild in China and in the eastern part of the United States. It is also cultivated in the United States, China, and Japan.
   Ginseng has pretty red berries in the fall, but the plant is not raised for them. It is raised for its roots. They bring high prices in China. So far as anyone knows, the roots are of little real use. But for hundreds of years the Chinese have thought that the roots would cure many kinds of sickness. There are Chinese stories which tell how wild animals protect this wonderful plant. There are other Chinese stories which tell that the plant travels underground to escape its enemies.
   Probably the shape of the ginseng roots gave the Chinese the idea that they would be good medicine. "Ginseng" means "likeness of men." Wild roots bring higher prices than cultivated ones because they are more likely to be shaped like men. Cultivated roots look very much like parsnips.

Peony flowers

   The peony is one of the showiest of modern garden flowers. The kind most popular is a hybrid of the common peony of southern Europe and the Chinese peony.
   Peonies belong to the crowfoot, or butter-cup, family. There are over 300 varieties of the bush peony. It is a herbaceous PERENNIAL that reaches a height of about three feet. The flowers usually appear during June. They have single or double blooms ranging in color from white to red to purple. The petals are waxy. The large leaves possess deep grooves or divisions. The roots are fleshy and store food material for new growth each year. The stem has a red to green color. When peony bushes are separated and transplanted to a new location, flowers will not appear for a year or two while the plant rests.
   Some peonies have woody stems and are called tree peonies. They grow about five feet tall with many branches and a great number of blossoms. The woody tree peonies are native to Pacific coastal areas of Asia and North America.

The narcissus

   AMARYLLIS family. It is a spring-flowering plant that is grown from bulbs. The flowers are white, yellow, or orange. Each flower has six petal-like parts that surround a central tube known as the trumpet, cup, or crown.
A narcissus is a member of the
   The jonquil is a very familiar member of the narcissus genus. It has narrow, rush-like leaves and pleasant-smelling white or yellow petals. The bulbs should be planted in September or October in a deeply spaded, humus-rich soil.

Oak tree

   The mighty oak is a strong tree. The trunk is large and holds many sturdy branches. The roots go deep into the soil to keep the tree upright. Oaks are very important hardwoods in North America. They give shade, beauty and timber.
   Oak leaves are simple, pinnately veined and usually lobed. The small flowers are pollinated by the wind. The fruit (acorn) is classified as a nut. The acorns of the white oaks will ripen and germinate in one year. It takes two years for the black oak species to accomplish the same process.
   The western oaks are not as valuable for lumber as the eastern varieties. The bark is high in tannin which is extracted for use in treating leather. The eastern oaks include the following kinds. The red oak is the largest, growing over 100 feet. The scarlet oak leaves turn bright red in fall. The live oak has evergreen leaves. The bur oak has large nuts which are eaten by animals. The blackjack oak leaves form a triangle. There are about 200 kinds of oak.

The pear tree

   The pear tree has been grown for over 4000 years. It is a member of the rose family. In the United States, most pears are grown in the northwestern states. These trees cannot stand extremes of temperature change as apple trees can, therefore they are rather limited to certain regions.
   The leaves of the pear tree have serrated margins. The flower has five petals and five carpels and is generally white. The flower is perfect, meaning that both male and female parts are present. The fruit is classified as accessory since much of the wall is the fleshy receptacle. The grittiness of the fruit is caused by the presence of minute stone cells or schlerenchyma tissue.
   Propagation is done by seeds or grafting. The dwarf pear is grafted onto a slow growing rootstock such as quince. Besides using the fruit as food, man extracts oil from the seeds.
A drink called perry is made from the fruit juice.

Mint (plant)

   Mint is the name of a large family of plants. Some are catnip, thyme, bee balm, lavender, pepper-mint, spearmint, sage, rosemary, and marjoram. These plants are grown all over the world and have many uses, especially in flavorings.
   The common variety of mint that grows in gardens is a hardy PERENNIAL with square stems, creeping roots, and light purple blossoms. The fragrant leaves grow in pairs, one on each side of the stem. Mint is a favorite cooking herb and is used in sauces, iced tea, vegetables, and jellies.

Forage crops

   Any crop is a forage crop if most of the plant makes good food for farm animals. The most important forage crops are grasses, especially bluegrass and timothy. Clover and alfalfa are also important forage crops. Bluegrass, timothy, clover, and alfalfa are good grazing crops —that is, animals may walk around over the pasture nipping off the tops of the plants. These crops make good hay, too. They can be cut, dried, and stored as winter food for stock.
   Corn may also be called a forage crop. While it is green the stem, leaves, and young ears are sometimes cut into small pieces and stored in silos. The cut-up corn, or silage, stays green and makes excellent food for cattle in the wintertime. And in the fall after the corn is husked, cattle are sometimes turned into a cornfield. They eat the corn that is left and any parts of the stalks and leaves which are still good. Clover, alfalfa, and sorghums may also be packed in silos.

Oregano

   Oregano is an herb that belongs to the mint family. Although some people call wild marjoram origanum, botanists say that origanum is a separate genus.
   Oregano is a beautiful leafy perennial grown widely in the United States, Mexico, Italy, and Spain. It is used in powdered or dried-leaf form to season Mexican and Italian dishes, hot sauces, and bean dishes.
   The herb plant may grow three feet high in warmer climates, has large clusters of pale, purplish-pink flowers, and oval, gray-green leaves. The flavor of oregano is much more pungent than the flavor of marjoram
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What is crop rotation?

   All crops use up minerals from the soil. A farmer cannot expect his soil to stay rich if he raises crops on it year after year and never puts any minerals back into it.
   But how can a farmer put back into the soil the minerals his crops take out? He can use fertilizers. He can also follow a good plan of crop rotation. Crop rotation means changing crops in regular order.
   Some crops take more of one material from the soil. Some take more of another. Any crop rotation is probably better than raising such a "heavy-feeding" crop as corn year after year. But to be good a crop rotation must add something to the soil.
   Grass is often used in a crop rotation. Plowing it under adds what we call humus to the soil. Humus helps change minerals that plants cannot use into minerals that they can use.
   Clover is an even better crop for building up soil. Clover has tiny bumps on its roots. In the bumps there are bacteria of a special kind. They take nitrogen from the air and change it to a mineral that the clover plant needs. If, after the clover seed has been harvested, clover plants are plowed under, this mineral is added to the soil. So is humus.
   Clover is one of the plants called legumes. Alfalfa, sweet clover, and soybeans are legumes too. All legumes can be used to help keep soil fertile.
   Crop rotation does more than keep soil from wearing out. It also helps in fighting weeds and insects. If wheat were raised in a field several years in a row, weeds that can grow easily in wheat fields and insects that eat wheat would get a better and better foothold. But if crops are changed often, such weeds and insects do not have as good a chance to get established.

Licorice

   Licorice is an ANNUAL European plant of the pea family that produces a sweet, brittle, blackish substance also called "licorice." It is used in brewing, in candy-making, and for flavoring. Licorice medicines are used for coughs and as a laxative.

Laurel

   True laurel plants are evergreen trees and SHRUBS. The trees may grow as high as fifty feet while the shrubs may grow to be fifteen feet tall. The laurel is often grown as a large potted plant. It is easily pruned to grow in interesting shapes. These plants are often used on terraces as ornaments. Laurels have small yellow flowers and dark purple berries. Florists often use the dark green glossy leaves in flower arrangements. Oils and some medicines are extracted from laurel berries and leaves.
   Laurel plants are grown from seeds or cuttings. They should be planted in rich, humus-filled soil and kept moist. They must be protected from winter cold. Laurels do not make good house plants because of the dry heat.
   The ancient Greeks used crowns of laurel leaves to honor winners of the Pythian games. Later, laurel crowns indicated academic achievement.

Potentilla (plant)

   Potentilla is the name of certain plants that grow wild on lawns and prairies in the eastern part of the United States. They are sometimes called five-finger plants because each leaf is divided into five parts. Since some are creeping vines that resemble strawberry plants, they are also called false strawberry. The flowers are bright yellow, and grow in small clusters.
   Potentilla plants grow in poor soil. If many plants grow in an area, it may be a sign that the soil is acid or sour and trees should not be planted.

What are Lupines?

   Lupines are flowering plants belonging to the legume or pea family. The flowers look something like sweet peas. Many flowers grow on long stems. They may be blue, yellow, white, or rose, and they blossom in May or June. The plants usually grow from three to five feet tall. Some varieties, growing from four to eight feet tall, can be trained to grow on sunny walls or trellises. One variety of lupine is a tree.
   Lupine is from the Latin word Lupinus meaning "wolf." These plants were thought to need a great deal of food. Lupines have deep roots. Seed should be planted in sandy, moist soil.

Conifers

At Christmas time conifers play a big part in our celebrations. For our Christmas trees are conifers.
"Conifer" means "cone-bearer." Most conifers produce their seeds in cones. A few have berry like fruits instead.
   Scattered over the world are hundreds of kinds of conifers. Not all of them are trees. Some junipers, for instance, are bushes which grow close to the ground. But most conifers are trees. Among them are the giants of the plant world—the red-woods and the big trees, or sequoias. Among them, too, are many of our most important timber trees.
   Most conifers are evergreens and do not drop their leaves when winter comes as elms and maples do. But some conifers do lose their leaves in the fall. The larches and the bald cypresses, for example, are conifers, but they are not evergreens.
   Some conifer leaves are scalelike and lap over one another. Others are so narrow they are called needles. The needles of different conifers are not alike. Some are short; others are long. Some are four-sided; others are flat. Some grow in bunches of two or more; others are not bunched. There are differences in color, too.
   The evergreen conifers do not keep the same leaves all their lives. They keep losing old leaves a few at a time instead of losing all of them at one time in the fall.
   Great conifer forests once covered a large part of the United States. Millions of trees have been cut for lumber. Millions more have been killed by forest fires. One of America's problems now is how to keep her conifer forests from disappearing.