|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Some young trees were planted close to curb outside school playground. I wondered what kind they were, and found a site that can help one find name of a tree by the characteristics of its leaves. All varieties listed are those of Ohio. I was able to find a picture of leaves very similar to those of the young trees I was interested in. Perhaps other members might enjoy browsing the site. http://www.oplin.lib.oh.us/products/tree/
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
great site, Dr. Bill! thanks for sharing! 
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Bet you'll love this site!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Fun. I did grit my teeth and snarl over damned ailanthus being listed first, not even a true North American tree. Its common name, tree of heaven, I've changed to tree of hell. It might be positively splendid in Asia, but it is taking over the edges of the woods over here--and it comes up through concrete in the city. Other than the damned ailanthus, I like the list, wwh. Why don't you send me a leaf sample?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Thanks Bill. I love those type of sites.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320 |
I just finished reading a new novel, The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem, most of which takes place in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn. Thanks to WW's input, I now understand the frequent references to ailanthus, which form a kind of subtext within the story. The ailanthus trees keep cropping up in this derelict part of the city, one more depressing aspect of the lives of the people who dwell there.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I had heard of the Tree of Heaven, but only as a name, so I googled for sites with both the tree and UK in their text and found that although a few UK sources issue warnings about the invasiveness of the tree, there are many more that are selling it as an attractive exotic.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear slithy toves: Remember "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"?
Was it an ailanthus?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320 |
Good catch, Dr. Bill. Googling, I found this about Betty Smith and her wonderful novel:
The Real Tree That Grows in Brooklyn
There were some aspects of the novel that Smith would not change. When Smith submitted her novel, the title was They Lived in Brooklyn. Harper & Brothers was not satisfied with this, so Smith discussed it with her associates in the playmaker group. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was probably suggested by Josefina Niggli, a writer and friend of Smith's. Although at first Saxton [her editor at Harper] was against using a full sentence as a title, he finally agreed. It was a wise decision since it set off a chain reaction of imitative headlines in the press; even today, most people are familiar with the title. Then Smith wrote a preface that made the metaphor, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, distinct:
There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows lushly . . . survives without sun, water, and seemingly without earth. It would be considered beautiful except that there are too many of it.
She was also very specific about what tree it was: when she first received a copy of the dust jacket, the artist had painted a generic city tree. Smith made him change it to the ailanthus tree, that ubiquitous growth visible on railroad trestles, in empty lots, and in any crack that has accumulated dirt in New York city. Then the artist painted an ailanthus, but it was surrounded by an iron fence. Smith wrote:
Brooklyn trees are considered noxious and people chop them down, burn them and put poison on them to kill them off. No one would ever put a guard around one of those trees, no more than would fertilize a field of dandelions . . . . it grows on neglect the way the children of my neighborhood do in the book .
Smith was firm in her commitment to this metaphor. Her instinct on this matter was correct: the tree that grew in Brooklyn became an American icon.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,347
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
774
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
