TREES WITH STORIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 97

TREES WITH STORIES.

The tTee that was uppermost in all minds so recently does not come into consideration here. The Christmas tree's gloryis for a time or a season, and its gifts are given once only, but there are other wonderful trees growing in the lands to the south about which George Bancroft Griffith tells in the Tribune Magazine. The beautiful tTee, the kuaTa, which signifies the sun, is the production of the south and south-western parts of Abyssinia. Its flowers and fruit, in colour, are equal to coral. Its fruit is a red bean, ■with a black spot in the middle of it, which is enclosed in a round capsula of a woody nature, tough and hard. This bean has been, used as a weight for gold, . where that metal is found, all over Africa ; it is called carat. From Africa it passed to India, and there came to be the weight of precious stones ; so we hear it spoken of gold or diamonds that they are so many "carats" fine or weightA Government report from Columbia contains a description of a tree, known as the chaparro, which is said to possess the quality of being fire-pToof. It grows on the vast plains of Columbia, and the north of South America, called savannas, extensive districts which are parched with heat except during the rainy season. It has long been the custom to clear the ground for the new vegetation which springs, up so luxuriantly on these plains after the rainy season by means of fire —and such fires, miles in extent, kindled by the herdsmen, destroy everything in the shape of vegetation except the chaparro tree, which survives to afford a welcome shade In an almost treeless region. It is a small tree, seldom growing to more than 20ft in height, with a girth of about 3ft, and owes its protection from fire to the nature of its hard, thick bark. The bark lies on the trunk in loose layers, which do not readily conduct heat to the more delicate parts of the structure. It is a -genera] idea among the natives that this tree growsi only where gold is abundant in the soil below. That ifc is common in auriferous districts is indisputable, but there is no ground for supposing that it does not grow elsewhere. It is said of the mangrove tree, which is common in. the tropics, lining .the banks of rivers and extending over vast tracts, that it appears to be designed to carry out a special object in Nature, that of reclaiming swampy ground in the neighbourhood of rivers, especially at their outfalls to the sea; it extends over vast swamps, throwing numberless intertwining and ramifying roots -into the water and mud, somewhat after the manner of the banyan. These roots mat and blend the vegetable debris together, and thus prevent its being carried! off to the sea. Again, to facilitate the formation of a dense mass of strong vegetable growth, the fruits or seeds, instead of being provided with means of locomotion, with wings to fly away or buoyancy to enable them to float on the surface of the water, as is the case with most plants, are so constructed that before leaving the branch they begin to grow, throwing out a long, stout radicle or tap-root, some eight or nine inches in length and as thick as one's finger, and thus falling from the tree are self-planted. There is a, tree in Jamaica called the quango. It is not inaptly called the fodder tree. The shadow which this tree casts is always flecked with sunshine, and so the grass can grow under it. Its leaves close rigidly at night, and: so the dew ' can deposit under its branches, thus help- i ing the growth of the grass. Its fruit has nourishing and fattening properties, and is eaten with avidity by cattle. As fast as it ripens it graciously falls off for their benefit. In one 6f the- Canaries neither springs nor rivers are found; but by n wonderful provision of Nature there grows ' in some of the deep Tecesses of the mountains a large, tall tree, called, with veneration, the "Saint. >r It keeps its lofty head all night wrapped in mist and clouds- from which it dispenses its timely, never-ceasing moisture in little .rivulets, running merrily down from the leaves. Small reservoirs are built for the purpose of catching the precious gift, and thus alone the island is made a fit dwelling-place for man.