Once a Year, I’ll Notice a Tree

Thanks to an impromptu January 2008 visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, I came to the realization that trees aren’t merely stocky prey from which we rob apples, macadamias and durians.  Some have a wily defense system- such as the cannonball tree– others possess thorns or sadistic vines, and then there’s the Chia Pet, a great gift for those who have yet to see, hear or touch anything else in the world.

Then we’ve got the Javanese fig tree, a gnarled beaut of impressive proportions.  Unable to contain my enthusiasm for the labyrinthine plant, I tripped a few times over the bark.  It would behoove the staff to add signs that say “no playing on the fun-looking tree,” for it, in addition to Angkor Wat, the Great Wall and the Port Authority bus terminal, all suffer from the onslaught of hyperactive humans.

If you would like more information on Earth’s round of Twister gone horribly wrong, please read about fig trees here.

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Are you interested in botany?  Finding oak trees a bit too humdrum?

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