In article
<
[email protected]>,
"Hunter" <
[email protected]> wrote:
> RonSonic wrote:
> > On 6 Jan 2006 02:43:34 -0800, "Hunter" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >Sorni wrote:
> > >> Hunter wrote:
> > >>
> > >> > How does dumbass relate to cycling?
> > >>
> > >> Numbass.
> > >----
> > >Speaking another language now?
> > >
> > >---->Hunter
> >
> > Always been a little thick, haven't ya.
> >
> > Ron
> -----
> That is in the eye of the beholde, and what one sees is not
> neccessarily true..
---Habitat---The Maples, belonging to the genus Acer,
natural order Aceraceae, are for the most part trees,
inhabitants of the temperate regions of the Northern
Hemisphere, particularly North America, Northern India and
Japan.
---Description---The leaves are long-stalked, placed
opposite to one another, and palmately lobed; the flowers,
in fascicles appearing before the leaves as in the Norway
Maple, or in racemes appearing with, or later than, the
leaves as in the Sycamore Some of the flowers are often
imperfect.
The dry fruit, termed a 'samara,' is composed of two
one-seeded cells, furnished with wings, which divide when
ripe, the winged seeds being borne by the wind to a
considerable distance.
The leaves of the Maples commonly exhibit varnish-like
smears, of sticky consistence, known as honey-dew. This is
the excretion of the aphides which live on the leaves; the
insect bores holes into the tissues, sucks their juices
and ejects a drop of honeydew, on an average once in half
an hour. In passing under a tree infested with aphides the
drops can be felt like a fine rain. The fluid is rich in
sugar. When the dew falls, the honey-dew takes it up and
spreads over the leaf; later in the day evaporation
reduces it to the state of a varnish on the leaf surface,
which aids in checking transpiration. Many other trees
exhibit this phenomenon, e.g. lime, beech, oak, etc.
Most of the Maples yield a saccharine juice from the
trunk, branches and leaves. The wood of almost all the
species is useful for many purposes, especially to the
cabinetmaker, the turner and the musical instrument-maker,
and for the manufacture of alkali the Maples of North
America are of great value.
Many species with finely-cut or variegated leaves have
been introduced, especially from Japan, as ornamental
shrubs, most of them remarkable for the coppery-purple
tint that pervades the leaves and younger growths.
The Common Maple (Acer campestre, Linn.) is the only
species indigenous to Great Britain. This and the
Sycamore, or Great Maple, were described by Gerard in
1597, the latter as 'a stranger to England.'
--
Michael Press
