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Originally a restaurant built as part of a marketing campaign for the New Zealand Yellow Pages, The design is an organic oval form wrapped around the trunk and structurally tied up top and bottom.
It can hold 18 people, includes a bar, and has unobstructed views of the valley.
…Inspired by various forms in nature – including the chrysalis that protects the emerging butterfly. Access to the tree house is through a 60m treetop walkway. Acrylic sheeting makes the tree house water resistant.
“A simple experiment with nature. An idea born from the limb of a Mandrone tree, Shwood is an endeavor to create a product that encompasses the individuality and uniqueness that can only be found in natural surroundings.”
The Jabuticaba is a small tree native to southeastern Brazil grown for the purple, grape-like fruits it produces. Traditionally, an astringent decoction of the sun-dried skins has been used as a treatment for hemoptysis, asthma, and gargled for chronic inflammation of the tonsils. The fruit grows directly on its main trunks and branches.
As for why the tree is this way, its thought to be so that animals that cannot climb very high can still reach them, eat the fruit, and spread the seeds :-)
Now That we’re firmly ensconced in April showers season it’s time to take a look at one of nature’s most awesome interactions: Lightning meets tree.
The electrical discharge of the lightning - up to 100 million volts at thousands of amperes (reaching almost 50,000 degrees farenheit!) - vaporizes the water inside the tree, creating superheated steam which explodes when it exceeds the structural strength of the wood. Often its easy to tell when you’ve come upon a tree that’s been hit, just look for vertical stripping where bark and sometimes the wood beneath, is torn from the trunk or major scaffold limbs.
The remains of a Saguaro cactus after a lightning strike
Amazingly enough since water or sap is a better conductor than wood, lightning damage is often related to the concentration of moisture in and around a tree. If the moisture is concentrated in the phloem between the bark and the wood, then the lightning strike will follow this channel and create an explosive separation of the bark. If there is more moisture in the center of the tree, the explosion from within may blow the tree apart. Rain soaked bark often shows little damage because the lightning may follow the outside of the bark and flow into the ground.
Because of this some trees fare better than others against electrical discharge. Birch is rarely struck, while elm, maple, oak and most conifers are commonly hit. The reason for the difference includes the obvious, some trees grow taller than others and the not so obvious, trees high in oils (birch and beech) are poor conductors of electricity, but trees high in starch content (oak, maple, ash, and poplar) are good conductors. Conifers (pine, spruce, hemlock, and fir) have high resin content. They conduct more electricity than trees with low resin content and are more susceptible to explosion and internal heating.
Lightning quick facts:
- Lightning strikes almost 25 million times per year (100 strikes per second worldwide)
- A Single lightning strike could power a 100 watt bulb for 90 days but only lasts a quarter of a second or so.
- An irrational fear of lightning is known as keraunophobia
- Chances of getting hit by lightning are about 1 in 7,000,000 (A Park ranger named Roy Sullivan has been hit by lightning 7 times)
- 31% of beetle infestations over a three-year period were related to individual lightning-strikes of pine trees
Built of Canadian cedar, Scandinavian redwood and English and Scots pine, from sustainable resources, it sits high in the treetops in a copse of mature lime trees.
There are walkways in the sky, rope bridges, and in the middle of the tree house there’s a restaurant. It has a log fireplace, trees growing through the floor, handcrafted furniture, screens made of fallen branches and serves locally grown and inspired food. There’s even a private table on top called The Nest and a Tree House Bar out on the deck.
Located in Northumberland, the tree house is the largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world.
On the Rainbow Eucalyptus(Eucalyptus deglupta) patches of outer bark are shed annually with individual patches dropping at different times, initially revealing the bright-green inner bark. After exposure, the inner bark slowly darkens and matures to blue, purple, orange and then maroon tones as time goes on.
**Incidentally, Eucalyptus deglupta is the only species of Eucalyptus growing naturally in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Dick Fagan returned from World War II to resume his journalistic career with the Oregon Journal. His office, on the second floor above Front Street (now Naito Parkway), gave him a view of not only the busy street, but also an unused hole in the median where a light pole was to be placed. When no pole arrived to fill in this hole, weeds took over the space. Fagan decided to take matters into his own hands and to plant flowers.
Fagan wrote a popular column called Mill Ends (rough, irregular pieces of lumber left over at lumber mills). He used this column to describe the park and the various “events” that occurred there. Fagan billed the space as the “World’s Smallest Park.” The park was dedicated on St. Patrick’s Day in 1948 since Fagan was a good Irishman. He continued to write about activities in the park until he died in 1969. Many of his columns described the lives of a group of leprechauns, who established the “only leprechaun colony west of Ireland” in the park. Fagan claimed to be the only person who could see the head leprechaun, Patrick O’Toole. After Mill Ends officially became a city park on St. Patrick’s Day in 1976, the park continued to be the site of St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
Over the years, contributions have been made to the park, such as the small swimming pool and diving board for butterflies, many statues, a miniature Ferris wheel (which was brought in by a normal-sized crane), and the occasional flying saucer.”
As we’re in the heart of the spring thaw and inching towards the end of it in some places it seemed like the perfect time for a maple syrup montage {click images for sources}
Grades of Vermont maple syrup: From left to right, Vermont Fancy, light amber color, delicate maple bouquet; Grade A Medium Amber, medium amber color, pronounced maple bouquet; Grade A Dark Amber, dark amber color, robust maple bouquet; Grade B, darkest color, strong maple bouquet.
A Sugar Shack in New Hampshire - Inside is where the magic happens and the sap is concentrated into sweet syrup.
And a final quote about the spirit of the season from a native Quebecer (who, by the way, produce up to 80% of the world’s supply):
Maybe because I am originally from Montreal Canada, while I enjoy Vermont maple syrup, I really prefer syrup from the province of Quebec. This brings me back to the good old sugar parties I used to go to as a child. Where the entire family as well as other families would meet at the maple brewery, where they will have a huge log cabin canteen like hall and we will eat ham, omlets, beans, and other goodies drenched in freshly made maple syrup. After dinner, the adults will dance to live Quebec folk music and the kids would go outside and role up maple toffee that was laid down on clean fresh snow. We would suck on that toffeee for hours. Ah what sweet bliss. I can hear the fiddler and acordion playing now
Fragrances are volatile. They often develop and become more complex the longer you smell them. A fragrance may catch your attention with a strong citrus smell that sweetens and becomes floral after a few minutes. For example, at first Dendrobium anosmum smells like raspberry, then shifts to strawberry, rhubarb, and finally, hyacinth.
Many factors affect fragrance. Orchids tend to be more fragrant on sunny days, when the volatile oils warm up and diffuse. Fragrances tend to linger longer in areas of high humidity.
- A Great Article on Fragrant Orchids from the New York Botanical Garden
NYC farmers have set their eyes on a new prize: transforming privately owned backyards into lush, fruitful farmlands.
By signing up to share your yard with an urban farmer, you can eat fresh from your own personal farm during the harvest months, and even sell produce to your neighbors - growing a community built around fresh local food…
The 
As for why the tree is this way, its thought to be so that animals that cannot climb very high can still reach them, eat the fruit, and 
Now That we’re firmly ensconced in 
The electrical discharge of the 
The remains of a 
Amazingly enough since water or 
On the 
**Incidentally, Eucalyptus deglupta is the only species of Eucalyptus growing naturally in the Northern Hemisphere.
