101/150: Not a banana, not a mango, it’s a pawpaw fruit!

Posted on August 29, 2017 by Lili Paradi

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Plantae: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliopsida: Magnoliales: Annonaceae: Asimina: Asimina triloba Linnaeus, Dunal

What do you get when you cross the taste of a banana with the look and texture of a mango? A pawpaw fruit! Believe it or not, the tropical-looking pawpaw tree, which is native to North America, gives the largest tree berry in all of North America. When blossoming, the common pawpaw (Asimina tribola) can give off an unpleasant odour. Continue reading “101/150: Not a banana, not a mango, it’s a pawpaw fruit!” →

75/150: Old bold and sweet, the Sugar Maple

Posted on July 1, 2017 by Ian Thompson

Plantae: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliopsida: Sapindales: Acer: Acer saccharum (Marshall)

Wow! Can you believe we’re half way through our 150 posts about biodiversity?

As you wear your red and white today, bearing the proud red maple leaf, you may wonder why a leaf? Why this leaf? In 1964, the well-known red and white Canada flag was adopted as our official flag. Dr. George Stanley, the creative designer behind the flag, based the design off the Royal Military College’s flag, where he worked as the dean of arts. The leaf that is represented on the flag is from the famous Sugar maple, a staple tree in Canadian history and our national tree.

Continue reading “75/150: Old bold and sweet, the Sugar Maple” →

6/150: Yellow cedars get cold feet

Posted on January 12, 2017January 13, 2017 by Jayme Sones

Plantae: Pinophyta: Pinidae: Pinales: Cupressaceae: Callitropsis: Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don, 1824)

One of the oldest known trees in Canada is a Yellow Cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis), and its estimated age is over 1800 years! Unfortunately the tree was discovered after having been cut down in a clear cut operation in 1980. Continue reading “6/150: Yellow cedars get cold feet” →