Dioon (Gum) Palm Tree - Dioon spinulosum
Giant Dioon is technically a cycad of pre-historical origin, and the Dioon palm tree can grow up to 1 ฝ ft. in diameter with a Dioon trunk growing twelve feet tall. The bright waxy-green leaves of the Dioon are feather-like and pointed on the tips. The giant Dioon palm tree is a favorite container plant and will tolerate temperatures of 25 degrees F., without any significant effect or leaf change.
Bamboo Palm Tree, Reed Palm Tree - Chamaedorea erumpens, Chamaedorea seifrizii
The Bamboo Palm tree thrives indoors when grown in low light. The Bamboo Palm tree is a popular and successful plant for growing in homes, offices, malls and courtyards. The bamboo-like segments are spreading by underground shoots, resulting in this bamboo-like container palm tree being easy to grow and maintain. The plant care is simple, requiring simple watering. As a native grown palm tree from Mexico, the Bamboo Palm is found growing as an understory palm tree under taller palm trees.
Lady Palm Tree - Rhapsis excelsa
The Lady Palm tree historically dates back to the 1600's when Japanese and Chinese propagated the palm trees to be grown inside the Imperial residences. The Lady palm trees were imported by European monarchs and admired because of their qualities of long-life, easy maintenance and unique beauty and their attraction to be used as an ornamental plant. Lady Palm trees, Rhapsis excelsa, can grow twelve feet tall in clumps or clusters under low artificial light. Very few palm trees have the advantage of large indoor growing as does the Lady Palm tree, Rhapsis excelsa.
Ponytail (Bottle) Palm Trees - Beaucamea recurvata
Often called the Elephant Foot palm tree, the Ponytail (Bottle) palm tree, Beaucamea recurvata, grows a swollen base, shaped like a perfume bottle with a narrow neck that corresponds to the trunk capped with a canopy of (ponytail) leaves. Often grown as a low-light bonsai specimen, the Ponytail palm tree can grow for years and years and slowly grows-easily manageable. Ponytail palm trees are available in variegated forms but are difficult to maintain when compared to the green form of the Ponytail palm trees (Bottle), Beaucamea recurvata.
Queen palm trees, Syagrus romanzoffianum (Arecastrum romanzoffianum) (Queen Palm)
The Queen palm trees grow to 50 feet tall in zones 9-11 and is cold hardy in temperatures of 20* F. The Queen palm tree can be easily grown in large pots that add a tropical flair to pool and patios. In the deep south, Queen palm trees are landscaped for parking lots, airport entrances, commercial, and home landscapes. Queen palm trees grow fast and provide fast growing for shade and the tropical look. Queen palm trees, Syagrus romazoffianum (Queen Palm) are important container trees for screens used for outside restaurants and cafes.
Triangle (Madagascar-Triangle) palm tree, Dypsis decaryi. The triangle shape of the leaf bases makes the triangle palm trees from the island of Madagascar, a popular palm tree in the nursery trade. The Madagascar (Triangle) palm tree thrives in full sun and is cold hardy to below freezing temperatures. The Madagascar (Triangle) palm tree, Dypsis decaryi, will turn heads to attention when grown and planted at outside restaurants and cafes in containers.
Zamia (Coontie) Palm Tree - Zamia pumila
William Bartram, the famous American botanist and explorer discovered the Zamia Palm tree growing in Central Florida on an expedition in the year 1773. William Bartram wrote page 160 in his book Travels. "The Zamia pumila the Erythryna corallodendrum (Cardinal Spear), and the Cactus opuntia, grow there in great abundance in perfection. The first grows in pine forests, in tufts or clumps, a large conical strobile disclosing, its coral red fruit which appears singularly beautiful amidst the deep green fern-like pinnate leaves." William Bartram's description for Zamia (Coontie) palm trees, Zamia pumila is vivid and accurate even 233 years past. Zamia (Coontie) palm trees thrive as outside plants, Zones 9-11, also as containerized palm trees for that tropical look. Clumps of Zamia pumila can easily divide to form real plants or the seeds can be planted to grow new Zamia (Coontie) palm trees that are fast growing.
Zamia (Cardboard) palm tree - Zamia furfuracea
The cardboard palm tree is a clumping cycad that grows 3 feet tall in tight clusters that often reach a diameter of 6 feet. The fleshy base is full of water, giving drought protection. The cardboard palm tree, Zamia furfuracea, can be planted outside where temperatures do not go below freezing, and is especially popular to use as bedding plants at resorts such as the Cloister Hotel at Sea Island, Georgia. As a container plant, the cardboard palm tree grows well as specimen or accent plants.
Flowering Dogwood Trees: A Favorite Tree Of America
The State of Virginia has adapted the dogwood flowering tree as its State tree, and many cities in America have named themselves 'The Dogwood City.' Atlanta, Georgia holds a spring festival every April to coincide with the flowering of the of the dogwood trees in Atlanta, Georgia. The Dogwood Festival has continued for 70 years, successfully attracting visitors for events such as outdoor musical extravaganzas in Piedmont Park and the attraction of many artists to display and sell to those visitors who wish to buy pottery, sculpture, oil paintings, and photographs.
Flowering dogwood trees, Cornus florida, were discovered in the South by William Bartram in 1773; these trees were beautifully described in his exploratory book, Travels (page 399). Near Mobile, Alabama. Bartram encountered a grove of dogwood trees that aggressively covered an area 9 miles long. The dogwood trees were growing so thick that sunlight was practically excluded, and almost all other plant life was excluded except for an occasional white flowering Magnolia grandiflora. The land on which the white flowering dogwood tree grew was level soil that was loose with a humid black organic mould on the surface with dogwood roots growing into a stiff yellowish clay. The limbs of the flowering dogwood trees were interlocking and spread horizontally at a tree height of 12 feet. The vast interlocking limbs of the dogwood trees covered the entire area as a shade tree that cooled the camping area used by William Bartram. After exploring for another seventy miles, Bartram wrote "spacious groves of this fine flowering tree, which must, in the spring season, when covered with blossoms, present a most pleasing scene; when at the same time a variety of other sweet shrubs display their beauty.
The white flowering dogwood is a native tree to the forests of America and has been exported worldwide as a seedling dogwood and as a grafted white dogwood also flowering in pink and red. The pink flowering dogwood is available to buy as a seed grown tree, but the most desirable, stable, predictable pink dogwood trees are nursery grafted trees. Red flowering dogwood trees are not available as seedling trees, but as grafted cultivars, such as the Cherokee Chief, red flowering dogwood tree.
The dogwood tree, Cornus florida, is very adaptable in America, ranging from Massachusetts to Florida, and the tree is generally grown as an understory tree 12-15 feet tall, although some old specimens of 40 feet tall are recorded. The flowering dogwood tree is perfect for planting and growing in a small garden or in large parks and as big landscape specimen trees. Dogwood has the unusual quality of growing well when planted beneath pine trees, where only a few other shrubs such as redbud trees, azalea plants, and camellia shrubs can compete successfully, because of the dense root pine tree competition near the surface of the ground.
The flowering of dogwood trees begins in early spring and the flowering lasts 2 to 3 weeks. Oval berries of bright red are formed following the blooms and persist on the trees into fall and winter after leaves are shed, and until they are eaten by wildlife and birds. In the fall the dogwood trees are covered in brilliant red leaves that change to purple. The fallen dogwood leaves are very fragile and usually easily deteriorate without raking. Flowering dogwood trees will grow well underneath oak tree shade as well as under pine trees, but the dogwood tree remarkably will grow well in full sun. Dogwood trees are well adapted to stress and are very tolerant of dry weather. Dogwood trees are tolerant of cold weather, and thrive in USDA zones 5 through 9.
Every landscape gardener appreciates the spring blooms of the white flowering dogwood trees as a background companion tree for flowering redbud trees or in a combination of flowering azalea shrubs in colors of red, pink, purple, or white.
Dogwood trees can be propagated by growing from the seed or by rooting the cutting, but the best dogwood cultivars are grown from grafted trees. The Cloud Nine, flowering, white dogwood tree produces very large (hand-size) blooms, especially in the juvenile stage. The Weaver's Select, white, flowering dogwood tree is grafted and can produce a flower 6 inches wide.
The dogwood tree has been rumored to have been the wood from which the crucifixion cross of Jesus Christ was made in the year 33 AD. This rumor is ridiculous in several respects: first, there is not Biblical record of dogwood trees in the Scriptures of the Old Testament Bible or the New Testament. Most plant references in the Bible are very vague except for a few references to the date palm tree, olive tree, pomegranate trees, fig tree, and grape vines. The identity of those plants and trees is obvious, because of their fruits that are produced, but accurate plant identity could not be done easily until Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish physician, suggested rules on naming plants in the early 1700's.
There are many species of dogwood trees and shrubs, but it is unlikely that any of the Mideastern species of dogwood trees grew trunks large enough to shape into a crucifixion cross. The wood of the dogwood tree is so hard and dense that nails driven into the wood would split the wood. That tree definitely could not have been the North American dogwood tree, Cornus florida, since that tree did not grow in Israel at the time of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the reason for the rumor is that the dogwood tree was the wood of the crucifixion cross is the fact that the four white bracts (flower) are shaped like a cross. This resemblance of a white cross-shaped flower occurs in innumerable species of flowers of trees and, of course, should not be given any weight of evidence of the dogwood tree wood being the substance of crucifixions by the Jewish High Priest and the Roman rulers.
Flowering dogwood trees, Cornus florida, were discovered in the South by William Bartram in 1773; these trees were beautifully described in his exploratory book, Travels (page 399). Near Mobile, Alabama. Bartram encountered a grove of dogwood trees that aggressively covered an area 9 miles long. The dogwood trees were growing so thick that sunlight was practically excluded, and almost all other plant life was excluded except for an occasional white flowering Magnolia grandiflora. The land on which the white flowering dogwood tree grew was level soil that was loose with a humid black organic mould on the surface with dogwood roots growing into a stiff yellowish clay. The limbs of the flowering dogwood trees were interlocking and spread horizontally at a tree height of 12 feet. The vast interlocking limbs of the dogwood trees covered the entire area as a shade tree that cooled the camping area used by William Bartram. After exploring for another seventy miles, Bartram wrote "spacious groves of this fine flowering tree, which must, in the spring season, when covered with blossoms, present a most pleasing scene; when at the same time a variety of other sweet shrubs display their beauty.
The white flowering dogwood is a native tree to the forests of America and has been exported worldwide as a seedling dogwood and as a grafted white dogwood also flowering in pink and red. The pink flowering dogwood is available to buy as a seed grown tree, but the most desirable, stable, predictable pink dogwood trees are nursery grafted trees. Red flowering dogwood trees are not available as seedling trees, but as grafted cultivars, such as the Cherokee Chief, red flowering dogwood tree.
The dogwood tree, Cornus florida, is very adaptable in America, ranging from Massachusetts to Florida, and the tree is generally grown as an understory tree 12-15 feet tall, although some old specimens of 40 feet tall are recorded. The flowering dogwood tree is perfect for planting and growing in a small garden or in large parks and as big landscape specimen trees. Dogwood has the unusual quality of growing well when planted beneath pine trees, where only a few other shrubs such as redbud trees, azalea plants, and camellia shrubs can compete successfully, because of the dense root pine tree competition near the surface of the ground.
The flowering of dogwood trees begins in early spring and the flowering lasts 2 to 3 weeks. Oval berries of bright red are formed following the blooms and persist on the trees into fall and winter after leaves are shed, and until they are eaten by wildlife and birds. In the fall the dogwood trees are covered in brilliant red leaves that change to purple. The fallen dogwood leaves are very fragile and usually easily deteriorate without raking. Flowering dogwood trees will grow well underneath oak tree shade as well as under pine trees, but the dogwood tree remarkably will grow well in full sun. Dogwood trees are well adapted to stress and are very tolerant of dry weather. Dogwood trees are tolerant of cold weather, and thrive in USDA zones 5 through 9.
Every landscape gardener appreciates the spring blooms of the white flowering dogwood trees as a background companion tree for flowering redbud trees or in a combination of flowering azalea shrubs in colors of red, pink, purple, or white.
Dogwood trees can be propagated by growing from the seed or by rooting the cutting, but the best dogwood cultivars are grown from grafted trees. The Cloud Nine, flowering, white dogwood tree produces very large (hand-size) blooms, especially in the juvenile stage. The Weaver's Select, white, flowering dogwood tree is grafted and can produce a flower 6 inches wide.
The dogwood tree has been rumored to have been the wood from which the crucifixion cross of Jesus Christ was made in the year 33 AD. This rumor is ridiculous in several respects: first, there is not Biblical record of dogwood trees in the Scriptures of the Old Testament Bible or the New Testament. Most plant references in the Bible are very vague except for a few references to the date palm tree, olive tree, pomegranate trees, fig tree, and grape vines. The identity of those plants and trees is obvious, because of their fruits that are produced, but accurate plant identity could not be done easily until Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish physician, suggested rules on naming plants in the early 1700's.
There are many species of dogwood trees and shrubs, but it is unlikely that any of the Mideastern species of dogwood trees grew trunks large enough to shape into a crucifixion cross. The wood of the dogwood tree is so hard and dense that nails driven into the wood would split the wood. That tree definitely could not have been the North American dogwood tree, Cornus florida, since that tree did not grow in Israel at the time of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the reason for the rumor is that the dogwood tree was the wood of the crucifixion cross is the fact that the four white bracts (flower) are shaped like a cross. This resemblance of a white cross-shaped flower occurs in innumerable species of flowers of trees and, of course, should not be given any weight of evidence of the dogwood tree wood being the substance of crucifixions by the Jewish High Priest and the Roman rulers.
World Travel, Volunteering and the Journey to Raw Vegan
In this article, Happy Oasis shares on world travel, volunteering and her journey to raw vegan. Happy Oasis is a raw food inspiration, an author and the "Chief Visionary Officer" of the Raw Spirit Festival.
Kevin: Just kind of like a personal question from me, how do you manage to get from place to place if you are volunteering, how does it work out? Because I know there are a lot of people who want to volunteer, who want to travel. How have you done it? What's the secret?
Happy: That's a great question. Since I was 12, I was on a panel yesterday at the Vibrant Living Festival, at the age of 12 I became entrepreneur because I decided that I would wish for a pony and to pay for the pony, I started to teach riding lessons. I barely knew how to ride myself, but it's that entrepreneurial spirit that has landed me in dozens of various entrepreneurial activities. For example, I was up in the foothills of the Himalayas and I was boarding a train in India and I said to this man, "What are these in these crates?" He said, "Oh these are avocados." But he said it in a different language and I realized it was avocados. I said, "Can I buy all your crates?" He said, "Certainly." So I bought them all and I took them to Goa, which was the hippy market. I sold them for several times more than I had purchased them. Just little things like that helped as fundraisers. So that raised funds for me for few months then I could go on volunteering.
I taught English in Bangkok for about a year, total, and instead of teaching in schools, I went to the tallest buildings in Bangkok, when I was 19, and I went straight to the CEOs and taught the management staff.. They so appreciated it that they said instead of paying $5 an hour, which is what they would do at a school, that they would pay me for each person. So it ended up being a significant amount of money so I only had to work for an hour or two. Anybody can do these things. It's just having a slightly different perspective. Then that funded me for a year by doing that for many months. And then I also live at monasteries.
So the main way that I cut down on expenses is that, when I was 16, I received a scholarship to Tasmania, a full scholarship and I worked and traveled and studied and represented America at Hobart Matriculation College. And during my summers off, my weekends, I was a hiking guide, they call it a trekking guide. On one of our first treks, there was a woman who came to our camp in the middle of the night, we were singing around the fire. She approached and she had a big backpack on and she was from Germany and we said, "Come join us." I started interviewing her. I said, "Tell me about yourself." She said, "Well, I have been traveling for four years." I said, "Four years?" I was 16 years old. "How do you travel for four years?" She said, "Well, I was a bank teller," I think she said, "and I saved up some money for about three years, but this is what I did. I didn't drink." She said, "I don't drink alcohol. I don't buy ever buy any kind of drinks, even soda pop, juices. I only drink water at restaurants. Secondly, I am vegetarian." Thirdly, she doesn't go out dancing. She doesn't go to bars. She also doesn't rent movies. She goes to libraries instead of bookshops. So she had all these frugal habits that she taught me at the ripe age of 16 and so I adopted hose habits immediately. Not only that but she said she camps and she doesn't spend money on hotels. I started sleeping outside and realizing if I can bring a tent or sleep under the stars. She said to me, "What's the point of having a hotel where you are not enjoying it anyway because you are sleeping?" Those are some of the ways.
I ended up having this sort of monastic lifestyle of sleeping anywhere. I slept around, but not in that traditional way. [laughter] Then I would go to farmers markets and then I thought, what's the next step of frugality? I would like to pick my own fruit. So I picked fruit everywhere I went. I would ask farmers. I would ask orchardists, "Could I help you, relieve you of all this fruit? They were on the ground and in your trees?" And they would almost always say yes. And there's all these wild, edible plants. So I became an intuitive wild edible plant person. And then as far as window shopping, I had this rule that if I can't carry it on my back, I can't have it. So when I would window shop, I literally would just look at things and then realize the whole world belongs to all of us. All the riches in India and all the riches around the world are everybody's to enjoy to see, to look at, to perceive and then we walk on to the next adventure. Life has been a seasonal adventure for me. I spent many, many years living out of a backpack with minimal possessions.
Kevin: How does raw food fit into that for you? Do you do it for experience or how does raw food fit?
Happy: Well, the beauty of raw fruit in this lifestyle is that it's as easy as picking a piece of fruit from the tree. There is no wood stove. There is no camp stove. People go backpacking and I always had this advantage, I always had five less pounds than those people because I didn't have fuel for a wood stove or cooking stove. Then also the availability and the wild plants. So basically, I'm very comfortable just foraging. But the beauty of it, especially for this disposition and my constitution, is even though I was unusually physically strong for my age, size and gender, I had a weak immune system and I probably still do today if I would go back to the SAD diet, the Standard American Diet.
I was raised, like most of us, on hot dogs and Twinkies and Ho-Hos and PopTarts and Captain Crunch and Coca Cola for breakfast sometimes, basically no fresh fruit or vegetables, very, very rare. Our oranges came out of a can. Our spinach was brown, it came out of the can. I was a survivor. God bless our parents, that whole generation. Who knew? Nobody knew. Everybody was told that this was the way to live. So now a lot of people are coming out of that. So what that did to my immune system is it was a bit tragic. So I became a raw vegetarian after a long research, decades of investigation as to what was wrong with my system.
I discovered vegetarianism when I was a teenager and then became a vegan when I was about 30, so about 15 years ago. The way that happened is I was living in a Buddhist monastery in the jungles of Thailand and my dear friend, who is younger but so wise, she is a PhD now living in Singapore with some tribal people, she said to me that milk is unnatural for human diet and of course we had a great debate back and forth. That night, I went to sleep with the thought of milk is unnatural. How can that be? And I woke up in the middle of the night and I had somehow become attuned to a past life 50,000 years. I was living in a cave and I was sort of Neanderthal like, but post because Neanderthals were before then, and I was coming out on all four legs and I was hungry and maybe a little grumpy. I looked through the shrubbery and there was a wild cow, very much like the wild cows that still remain only in Africa today. I saw the cow and I thought, "Milk." So I started running after the cow, myself on four legs, the cow on four legs, and then I lunged for her teats. And I started milking her teats, and I realized my goodness, it's just like a woman, like from our species. And I woke up feeling very strange. And feeling that that is so unnatural. I've never had dairy products again.
And then that day I went to the health food store and I started seeing women with those machines. Like, as cows have the metal machines on their six breasts or whatever, I saw the checkout woman with this machine, in my minds eye. And I thought that is so bizarre, it is incredibly unnatural for one species to steal milk from the mother who's producing milk for her baby. It's not only unethical, but it is just, it's just bizarre. And so that kind of cured that aspect for me.
And then with cooked foods I would note that every time I lived with tribal people who tended to eat more fresh food and more wild foods that I never had health problems. And I always thought it's like that because I feel so loved and I feel so like safe in nature. But then I'd go back to the city and I'd go to a ashram and I'd feel loved or I'd feel safe but I would get sick. And at these ashrams they would serve a lot of cooked foods. And it would be vegetarian, but it was a debilitating vegetarian diet versus a wild edible diet, wild raw, more raw diet, in the hinterlands of these countries. And so then after yoyo-ing, as we tend to ping-pong for a while until we figure it out, I realized just stay with the raw vegan.
And then what happened is, just at the time when I was figuring it out, somebody gave me three books. Viktoras Kulvinskas' "Survival into the 21st Century," Gabriel Cousens' "Rainbow diet," and David Wolfe's "Nature's First Law." And I read those three books within the same month and I just, their arguments were so colorful, so hilarious, genius, and convincing, that I decided, "That's it I'm going to try the raw vegan."
Kevin: Just kind of like a personal question from me, how do you manage to get from place to place if you are volunteering, how does it work out? Because I know there are a lot of people who want to volunteer, who want to travel. How have you done it? What's the secret?
Happy: That's a great question. Since I was 12, I was on a panel yesterday at the Vibrant Living Festival, at the age of 12 I became entrepreneur because I decided that I would wish for a pony and to pay for the pony, I started to teach riding lessons. I barely knew how to ride myself, but it's that entrepreneurial spirit that has landed me in dozens of various entrepreneurial activities. For example, I was up in the foothills of the Himalayas and I was boarding a train in India and I said to this man, "What are these in these crates?" He said, "Oh these are avocados." But he said it in a different language and I realized it was avocados. I said, "Can I buy all your crates?" He said, "Certainly." So I bought them all and I took them to Goa, which was the hippy market. I sold them for several times more than I had purchased them. Just little things like that helped as fundraisers. So that raised funds for me for few months then I could go on volunteering.
I taught English in Bangkok for about a year, total, and instead of teaching in schools, I went to the tallest buildings in Bangkok, when I was 19, and I went straight to the CEOs and taught the management staff.. They so appreciated it that they said instead of paying $5 an hour, which is what they would do at a school, that they would pay me for each person. So it ended up being a significant amount of money so I only had to work for an hour or two. Anybody can do these things. It's just having a slightly different perspective. Then that funded me for a year by doing that for many months. And then I also live at monasteries.
So the main way that I cut down on expenses is that, when I was 16, I received a scholarship to Tasmania, a full scholarship and I worked and traveled and studied and represented America at Hobart Matriculation College. And during my summers off, my weekends, I was a hiking guide, they call it a trekking guide. On one of our first treks, there was a woman who came to our camp in the middle of the night, we were singing around the fire. She approached and she had a big backpack on and she was from Germany and we said, "Come join us." I started interviewing her. I said, "Tell me about yourself." She said, "Well, I have been traveling for four years." I said, "Four years?" I was 16 years old. "How do you travel for four years?" She said, "Well, I was a bank teller," I think she said, "and I saved up some money for about three years, but this is what I did. I didn't drink." She said, "I don't drink alcohol. I don't buy ever buy any kind of drinks, even soda pop, juices. I only drink water at restaurants. Secondly, I am vegetarian." Thirdly, she doesn't go out dancing. She doesn't go to bars. She also doesn't rent movies. She goes to libraries instead of bookshops. So she had all these frugal habits that she taught me at the ripe age of 16 and so I adopted hose habits immediately. Not only that but she said she camps and she doesn't spend money on hotels. I started sleeping outside and realizing if I can bring a tent or sleep under the stars. She said to me, "What's the point of having a hotel where you are not enjoying it anyway because you are sleeping?" Those are some of the ways.
I ended up having this sort of monastic lifestyle of sleeping anywhere. I slept around, but not in that traditional way. [laughter] Then I would go to farmers markets and then I thought, what's the next step of frugality? I would like to pick my own fruit. So I picked fruit everywhere I went. I would ask farmers. I would ask orchardists, "Could I help you, relieve you of all this fruit? They were on the ground and in your trees?" And they would almost always say yes. And there's all these wild, edible plants. So I became an intuitive wild edible plant person. And then as far as window shopping, I had this rule that if I can't carry it on my back, I can't have it. So when I would window shop, I literally would just look at things and then realize the whole world belongs to all of us. All the riches in India and all the riches around the world are everybody's to enjoy to see, to look at, to perceive and then we walk on to the next adventure. Life has been a seasonal adventure for me. I spent many, many years living out of a backpack with minimal possessions.
Kevin: How does raw food fit into that for you? Do you do it for experience or how does raw food fit?
Happy: Well, the beauty of raw fruit in this lifestyle is that it's as easy as picking a piece of fruit from the tree. There is no wood stove. There is no camp stove. People go backpacking and I always had this advantage, I always had five less pounds than those people because I didn't have fuel for a wood stove or cooking stove. Then also the availability and the wild plants. So basically, I'm very comfortable just foraging. But the beauty of it, especially for this disposition and my constitution, is even though I was unusually physically strong for my age, size and gender, I had a weak immune system and I probably still do today if I would go back to the SAD diet, the Standard American Diet.
I was raised, like most of us, on hot dogs and Twinkies and Ho-Hos and PopTarts and Captain Crunch and Coca Cola for breakfast sometimes, basically no fresh fruit or vegetables, very, very rare. Our oranges came out of a can. Our spinach was brown, it came out of the can. I was a survivor. God bless our parents, that whole generation. Who knew? Nobody knew. Everybody was told that this was the way to live. So now a lot of people are coming out of that. So what that did to my immune system is it was a bit tragic. So I became a raw vegetarian after a long research, decades of investigation as to what was wrong with my system.
I discovered vegetarianism when I was a teenager and then became a vegan when I was about 30, so about 15 years ago. The way that happened is I was living in a Buddhist monastery in the jungles of Thailand and my dear friend, who is younger but so wise, she is a PhD now living in Singapore with some tribal people, she said to me that milk is unnatural for human diet and of course we had a great debate back and forth. That night, I went to sleep with the thought of milk is unnatural. How can that be? And I woke up in the middle of the night and I had somehow become attuned to a past life 50,000 years. I was living in a cave and I was sort of Neanderthal like, but post because Neanderthals were before then, and I was coming out on all four legs and I was hungry and maybe a little grumpy. I looked through the shrubbery and there was a wild cow, very much like the wild cows that still remain only in Africa today. I saw the cow and I thought, "Milk." So I started running after the cow, myself on four legs, the cow on four legs, and then I lunged for her teats. And I started milking her teats, and I realized my goodness, it's just like a woman, like from our species. And I woke up feeling very strange. And feeling that that is so unnatural. I've never had dairy products again.
And then that day I went to the health food store and I started seeing women with those machines. Like, as cows have the metal machines on their six breasts or whatever, I saw the checkout woman with this machine, in my minds eye. And I thought that is so bizarre, it is incredibly unnatural for one species to steal milk from the mother who's producing milk for her baby. It's not only unethical, but it is just, it's just bizarre. And so that kind of cured that aspect for me.
And then with cooked foods I would note that every time I lived with tribal people who tended to eat more fresh food and more wild foods that I never had health problems. And I always thought it's like that because I feel so loved and I feel so like safe in nature. But then I'd go back to the city and I'd go to a ashram and I'd feel loved or I'd feel safe but I would get sick. And at these ashrams they would serve a lot of cooked foods. And it would be vegetarian, but it was a debilitating vegetarian diet versus a wild edible diet, wild raw, more raw diet, in the hinterlands of these countries. And so then after yoyo-ing, as we tend to ping-pong for a while until we figure it out, I realized just stay with the raw vegan.
And then what happened is, just at the time when I was figuring it out, somebody gave me three books. Viktoras Kulvinskas' "Survival into the 21st Century," Gabriel Cousens' "Rainbow diet," and David Wolfe's "Nature's First Law." And I read those three books within the same month and I just, their arguments were so colorful, so hilarious, genius, and convincing, that I decided, "That's it I'm going to try the raw vegan."
Kevin Gianni the host of Renegade Health Show - a fun and informative daily health show that is changing the perception of health across the world. His is an internationally known health advocate, author, and film consultant. He has helped thousands and thousands of people in over 21 countries though online health teleseminars about abundance, optimum health and longevity. He is also the creator and co-author of "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution."
A Common Disease That Affects The Evergreen Tree
The evergreen tree is a beauty upon the year round landscape. The evergreen tree is a symbol of strength as the evergreen retains its color and needles even through the harsh winter months. People have fallen in love with the durability but yet simplistic grace of the evergreen tree. Unfortunately, there are several common diseases that affect the evergreen tree.
Evergreen trees can be killed or harmed by pathogens which are a disease-causing organism. The most common disease that affects the evergreen tree is caused by a type of fungi. Fungi lack the chlorophyll and therefore take nourishment from species in the evergreen family by feeding on these types of trees. Other tree diseases are caused from viruses and bacteria. An evergreen tree can become affected by a pathogen, viruses or bacteria in a number of different ways.
One disease that affects the evergreen tree is called needle cast tree disease. This is a disease that causes the evergreen tree to shed its needles. The symptoms of this type of disease will first appear on the needle. Needle cast tree disease appears as yellow spots on the needles which eventually turn red to brown. The growth of a certain species of fungi will form the spots on the evergreen's needles. When this disease is left untreated the needles fall off. Before the needles are shed tiny black fruiting bodies will form on the needle's surface.
Another type of disease that can affect the health of an evergreen tree is needle blight tree disease. There is a group of needle blight tree diseases that include Dothistroma, Diplodia and brown spot. These diseases are known to attack evergreen trees at the twig tips or the needles. The infected needle will fall from the tree due to the disease. When the needle falls from the tree this creates a denude look. If the evergreen tree is plagued by repeated cycles of infection then this can result in the loss of the tree. There are ways to prevent and to control needle blight tree disease.
A third common disease that affects the evergreen tree is canker tree disease. This is a type of disease where a canker either kills or causes blistering in the tree bark or the trunk of the diseased evergreen tree. There are dozens of known types of fungi that can cause this disease.
The last disease that can affect the evergreen tree is known as root disease. This is a wood decay disease. The fungi get in through the lower part of the tree or directly penetrate the root system of the tree. This fungus is able to travel from one tree to another on soilborne and airborne spores. If this disease is left untreated the evergreen tree will sadly rot from the roots upward.
Each of these diseases which affect an evergreen tree can be prevented or controlled. An evergreen tree is a beautiful natural resource that should be well cared for to ensure a long lifespan of the evergreen tree.
Evergreen trees can be killed or harmed by pathogens which are a disease-causing organism. The most common disease that affects the evergreen tree is caused by a type of fungi. Fungi lack the chlorophyll and therefore take nourishment from species in the evergreen family by feeding on these types of trees. Other tree diseases are caused from viruses and bacteria. An evergreen tree can become affected by a pathogen, viruses or bacteria in a number of different ways.
One disease that affects the evergreen tree is called needle cast tree disease. This is a disease that causes the evergreen tree to shed its needles. The symptoms of this type of disease will first appear on the needle. Needle cast tree disease appears as yellow spots on the needles which eventually turn red to brown. The growth of a certain species of fungi will form the spots on the evergreen's needles. When this disease is left untreated the needles fall off. Before the needles are shed tiny black fruiting bodies will form on the needle's surface.
Another type of disease that can affect the health of an evergreen tree is needle blight tree disease. There is a group of needle blight tree diseases that include Dothistroma, Diplodia and brown spot. These diseases are known to attack evergreen trees at the twig tips or the needles. The infected needle will fall from the tree due to the disease. When the needle falls from the tree this creates a denude look. If the evergreen tree is plagued by repeated cycles of infection then this can result in the loss of the tree. There are ways to prevent and to control needle blight tree disease.
A third common disease that affects the evergreen tree is canker tree disease. This is a type of disease where a canker either kills or causes blistering in the tree bark or the trunk of the diseased evergreen tree. There are dozens of known types of fungi that can cause this disease.
The last disease that can affect the evergreen tree is known as root disease. This is a wood decay disease. The fungi get in through the lower part of the tree or directly penetrate the root system of the tree. This fungus is able to travel from one tree to another on soilborne and airborne spores. If this disease is left untreated the evergreen tree will sadly rot from the roots upward.
Each of these diseases which affect an evergreen tree can be prevented or controlled. An evergreen tree is a beautiful natural resource that should be well cared for to ensure a long lifespan of the evergreen tree.
An Exotic Travel Guide For Your Next Vacation
From time to time everybody needs to get away from it all, to forget about their day-to-day work and to recharge their physical and emotional batteries. And what could be more refreshing and alluring than engaging in some exotic travels and visiting the holiday destinations of your dreams? Here's an exotic travel guide for your next vacation and I am sure that no matter which destination you'll choose, you'll come back reenergized and revitalized, with a lot of unique memories.
If you have never traveled abroad, I'm sure that there are countless exotic travels that you would like to make. Choosing only one could be a tough decision, but fortunately now you can find on the Internet a lot of information about every possible destination in the world. This exotic travel guide will just help you to make an idea about what kind of vacation will suit you and your family. Maybe what you dream about is to relax in the hot sun all day long and to go swimming in blue, warm waters. Or maybe you are more interested in historical artifacts or the cultural aspect of a place. There are exotic travels for all kinds of persons and tastes; you just have to carefully choose them!
Maybe Caribbean travels are the most popular exotic travels ever, because when it comes to vacations that are all about having fun in the hot sun, nothing can compare to these islands. This is why they must be included in every exotic travel guide. Caribbean vacations have thousands of things to offer to every tourist: clear blue skies, crystal clear seas, lagoons, volcanic mountains, tropical forests, shallow beaches, palm trees, mangrove swamps, sand dunes, colorful coral reefs, huge rock formations, waterfalls. You may choose what most pleases you from this wide variety of landscapes: if you want to relax on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, I strongly recommend you to choose Aruba, but if you want to explore the rain forests, you will be completely satisfied with Puerto Rico. A Caribbean vacation can offer you the exotic travels of your lifetime: lovely beaches, exotic food, risky explorations, an unspoiled heaven full of joy and most pleasant surprises!
I must confess that the exotic travels of my dreams are the trips to Asia, the mother of countless myths, religions, cultures and stories. Destinations like Japan, China, Bangkok, Singapore or Thailand are recommended by every exotic travel guide, because of the unique experiences and memories they offer. Japan, the land of the rising sun, is the most hi-tech country of the world, but it is also famous for its beautiful villages, ancient shrines and romantic getaways. Bangkok and Singapore are incredibly beautiful places and if you are a fan of sightseeing, you will surely be thrilled to visit them. Thailand is one of the most appreciated destinations of the past few years, because it is a country of untamed jungles, elephants, buffalos, exotic trees, vines and bamboos, but you will also find there a lot of modern hotels and conveniences. If you prefer destinations which combine unique landscapes and interesting culture and history, China could be the right choice for you.
Last but not least, our exotic travel guide invites you to a trip to Greece, where you will find seacoasts and mountains, ancient architecture and great shopping opportunities, coexisting in an amazing mixture of ancient and modern culture. The traditional food is mouthwatering, the seashore offers fantastic views and the architecture is extraordinary. Places like Athens, Crete, Sparta, Rhodes or Corinth don't need any introduction and they should be included in every exotic travel guide.
If you have never traveled abroad, I'm sure that there are countless exotic travels that you would like to make. Choosing only one could be a tough decision, but fortunately now you can find on the Internet a lot of information about every possible destination in the world. This exotic travel guide will just help you to make an idea about what kind of vacation will suit you and your family. Maybe what you dream about is to relax in the hot sun all day long and to go swimming in blue, warm waters. Or maybe you are more interested in historical artifacts or the cultural aspect of a place. There are exotic travels for all kinds of persons and tastes; you just have to carefully choose them!
Maybe Caribbean travels are the most popular exotic travels ever, because when it comes to vacations that are all about having fun in the hot sun, nothing can compare to these islands. This is why they must be included in every exotic travel guide. Caribbean vacations have thousands of things to offer to every tourist: clear blue skies, crystal clear seas, lagoons, volcanic mountains, tropical forests, shallow beaches, palm trees, mangrove swamps, sand dunes, colorful coral reefs, huge rock formations, waterfalls. You may choose what most pleases you from this wide variety of landscapes: if you want to relax on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, I strongly recommend you to choose Aruba, but if you want to explore the rain forests, you will be completely satisfied with Puerto Rico. A Caribbean vacation can offer you the exotic travels of your lifetime: lovely beaches, exotic food, risky explorations, an unspoiled heaven full of joy and most pleasant surprises!
I must confess that the exotic travels of my dreams are the trips to Asia, the mother of countless myths, religions, cultures and stories. Destinations like Japan, China, Bangkok, Singapore or Thailand are recommended by every exotic travel guide, because of the unique experiences and memories they offer. Japan, the land of the rising sun, is the most hi-tech country of the world, but it is also famous for its beautiful villages, ancient shrines and romantic getaways. Bangkok and Singapore are incredibly beautiful places and if you are a fan of sightseeing, you will surely be thrilled to visit them. Thailand is one of the most appreciated destinations of the past few years, because it is a country of untamed jungles, elephants, buffalos, exotic trees, vines and bamboos, but you will also find there a lot of modern hotels and conveniences. If you prefer destinations which combine unique landscapes and interesting culture and history, China could be the right choice for you.
Last but not least, our exotic travel guide invites you to a trip to Greece, where you will find seacoasts and mountains, ancient architecture and great shopping opportunities, coexisting in an amazing mixture of ancient and modern culture. The traditional food is mouthwatering, the seashore offers fantastic views and the architecture is extraordinary. Places like Athens, Crete, Sparta, Rhodes or Corinth don't need any introduction and they should be included in every exotic travel guide.
Allergies, Asthma and City Trees
Allergies, Asthma and City Trees
Thomas Leo Ogren
Some urban tree species cause an inordinate amount of asthma and allergy problems, while other tree species cause little or no health problems. A large part of the problem is that the arborists and landscape professionals, who plant these trees, often don't know the difference.
The type of trees (and shrubs) used in modern city landscapes has changed dramatically in the past three decades. In the past, the majority of street trees used were perfect-flowered, insect-pollinated trees, such as the once so common American elm tree.
Today though, many of the most widely used city trees are wind-pollinated species. Most of these species are unisexually flowered (dioecious and/or monoecious) and further compounding the problem, thousands of popular cultivars sold today are touted to be "seedless," "low-maintenance," "pod-free" or "litter-free."
These fruitless, seedless trees are male plants, all male, and male trees produce prodigious amounts of allergenic pollen. Female trees produce NO pollen what so ever.
In dioecious-flowered trees such as most ash, willow and poplars, it is easy to propagate male only trees because they are separate-sexed. Monoecious trees, which in Nature always have both sexes (male and female flowers) on the same tree, also usually produce abundant pollen. It is possible to have all-male trees from the monoecious species. On many species the sexes will be born on separate branches, such as on a Honey Locust tree. If you take cuttings, or budwood, only from the branches with male flowers, then, you'll get an all-male tree. Lots of monoecious Acer spp. cultivars are male-only plants. In a somewhat different way, there are also numerous monoecious species where only the top or only the bottom will have either male or female flowers. For example, the bottom half of a mature Italian Cypress for example is all-male. Female
wood is found only at the top of the plant. Thus, scion wood taken from the bottom usually produces "seedless" plants.
The terms "dioecious," and "monoecious," are botanical terms, not horticultural terms. We could perhaps say that a manipulated, asexually propagated all-male cultivar, taken from a monoecious species, is now "dioecious," but this is not quite correct. A proper dioecious tree is one that in Nature is separate-sexed. These modern engineered trees are never found in Nature.
Interestingly, the first reference in print I ever found to this single sexing-out with monoecious street trees, was in a USDA booklet, from 1982, called "Genetic Improvement of Urban Street Trees."
How Bad Is Allergy Now?
In 1959 the official rate of allergy in the U.S. was between 2 to 5% of the public. By 1999 the official rate of allergy had increased to an incredible 38% of Americans. Asthma, which was once considered rare, is now the number one chronic childhood disease in the US.
Where are Allergies and Asthma the Worst?
The most common allergen of all is pollen and since there are so many more plants growing in the country than in the city, it would make sense then that there is more allergy and asthma in the countryside. Right? No, wrong! Allergies and asthma are far worse in the city than they are in the country.
Several things contribute to this:
1.Pavement makes a poor pollen trap. Pollen in the city often lands on pavement where wind can cause it to become airborne again. In naturally vegetated areas where there is much more vegetation, pollen often lands on and becomes stuck in grasses, shrubs and vines or in trees.
2.Cities have more air pollution, which weakens the immune system and lung function.
3.Stress, which is generally higher in cities, can contribute to both asthma and allergy development.
4.Increased carbon dioxide levels within cities causes pollen-forming plants to produce more pollen with each bloom cycle, and also often causes urban plants to bloom more often.
5.Pollen loads are actually far greater in cities because there is a sexual imbalance within the plant community. In the city there is a preponderance of male trees and shrubs, while in the rural areas there is almost always a complete balance of plant sexuality. The excess of male plants in the city results in an excess of pollen.
6.The very lack of female plant materials in the urban environment also is a prime factor in the epidemic of allergy and asthma. Female flowers carry an electrical negative (-) charge (the trees are grounded with their roots) and airborne pollen holds a positive (+) charge. The tree and the pollen are mutually attractive; thus a female plant becomes a very effective pollen trap for pollen of its own species. But with almost no female trees and shrubs in modern landscapes, most of the pollen remains airborne.
How to Improve Health and Air Quality through Tree Selection
Landscaping to reduce allergies, especially pollen allergies, is an idea that is coming into its own. In the past few years several books have been written on the subject and interest is growing rapidly.
With the addition of OPALS™, (Ogren Plant-Allergy Scale) arborists now have a means to design allergy-free plantings. This scale ranks all landscape plant materials on a simple 1 to 10 allergy basis. Trees that produce zero pollen, e.g., female cultivars, usually rank the best - number one. Trees that have abundant, highly allergenic pollen, especially those with very long bloom periods, are usually ranked the worst - in the 9-10 range. There are many trees and shrubs, however, that fall somewhere in between. Using a list of over 100 factors, OPALS™ numerically ranks each species and then further ranks the individual cultivars. There are often dramatic allergy differences even between two species in the same genus.
How Are Plants Allergy-Ranked?
OPALS™ was developed based on the following considerations: "What do plants that are well known to cause allergies have in common?" and "What do plants that are well known NOT to cause allergies have in common?" With these two questions it was possible to build two opposing sets of medical-botanical-allergy criteria. One set is positive and one set is negative. Examples of negative criteria: tiny flowers, excerted stamens, small (less than 25 microns in diameter) sized pollen grains, extended bloom period. Examples of positive criteria: complete flowered, sticky, heavy pollen grains, presence of nectaries, brief bloom period.
There are now over a hundred criteria used to develop OPALS™ rankings. Individual landscapers, city arborists, the USDA and the American Lung Association have already use the scale to make better landscaping decisions.
Based on the plant-allergy scale it is now possible to state, for example, that Acer rubrum - 'Red Sunset' maple, is ranked number one and causes no allergies. By comparison, 'Autumn Spire,' a male cultivar of red maple does cause allergies and is ranked number nine. Most Pine trees will rank at numbers 4 to 5 and will cause some allergy. Platanus species (sycamore) rank number eight, and cause quite a bit of allergy. A male Canary Island Palm, Phoenix canariensis, which is considered one of the worst at a ranking of 10, will produce an abundance of pollen that will cause severe allergic reactions to many living nearby.
Pollen dispersal rates have been measured since 1972 (Gilbert Raynor, NY meteorologist) and although many pollen grains travel far in the air, research shows that most often 99% of a tree's pollen falls out and sticks within fifty feet of the tree. This means that the closer one is to the pollinating tree the greater the exposure. Thus, the job for arborists is to plant trees that will not expose everyone near them to allergenic pollen.
So, How Do You Tell the Boys from the Girls?
It isn't always that obvious by looking at a tree (especially a young tree) as to whether or not it is a pollen-free female or a pollen-producing male. But since so many city trees are now asexually produced cultivars, the sex is predetermined. In the book Allergy-Free Gardening, which is the result of 15 years of research on this subject, several thousand trees were individually sexed and allergy-ranked. In some cities, pollen control ordinances are already on the books, although most of these could be improved an updated. Albuquerque, New Mexico is particular interesting, since it has attempted to curb allergies by prohibiting the sale and planting of any male cultivars.
As the public grows more knowledgeable about allergy-free landscapes, municipal arborists and landscape specialists will want to be ahead of the curve. They will want to show their clients that they are well-informed on the subject. In the future, instead of planting high allergy-trees, they will need to plan and plant 'healthy' urban landscapes.
References:
1.Lewis, Walter H., Airborne and Allergenic Pollen of North America, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1976.
2.Jacobson, Arthur Lee, North American Landscape Trees, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California, 1996.
3.Koch, Christopher Von, Allergy, Die Woche, pg. 27, July 7, 2000, Hamburg, Germany.
4.Dworschak, Manfred, Der Spiegel, Feind am StraBenrad, Pp. 174, 175, Nr. 29, 2000.
5.Ogren, Thomas Leo, Turn Back the Pollen Clock, New Scientist, London, Pp. 46, 47, June 3rd, 2000.
Thomas Leo Ogren
Some urban tree species cause an inordinate amount of asthma and allergy problems, while other tree species cause little or no health problems. A large part of the problem is that the arborists and landscape professionals, who plant these trees, often don't know the difference.
The type of trees (and shrubs) used in modern city landscapes has changed dramatically in the past three decades. In the past, the majority of street trees used were perfect-flowered, insect-pollinated trees, such as the once so common American elm tree.
Today though, many of the most widely used city trees are wind-pollinated species. Most of these species are unisexually flowered (dioecious and/or monoecious) and further compounding the problem, thousands of popular cultivars sold today are touted to be "seedless," "low-maintenance," "pod-free" or "litter-free."
These fruitless, seedless trees are male plants, all male, and male trees produce prodigious amounts of allergenic pollen. Female trees produce NO pollen what so ever.
In dioecious-flowered trees such as most ash, willow and poplars, it is easy to propagate male only trees because they are separate-sexed. Monoecious trees, which in Nature always have both sexes (male and female flowers) on the same tree, also usually produce abundant pollen. It is possible to have all-male trees from the monoecious species. On many species the sexes will be born on separate branches, such as on a Honey Locust tree. If you take cuttings, or budwood, only from the branches with male flowers, then, you'll get an all-male tree. Lots of monoecious Acer spp. cultivars are male-only plants. In a somewhat different way, there are also numerous monoecious species where only the top or only the bottom will have either male or female flowers. For example, the bottom half of a mature Italian Cypress for example is all-male. Female
wood is found only at the top of the plant. Thus, scion wood taken from the bottom usually produces "seedless" plants.
The terms "dioecious," and "monoecious," are botanical terms, not horticultural terms. We could perhaps say that a manipulated, asexually propagated all-male cultivar, taken from a monoecious species, is now "dioecious," but this is not quite correct. A proper dioecious tree is one that in Nature is separate-sexed. These modern engineered trees are never found in Nature.
Interestingly, the first reference in print I ever found to this single sexing-out with monoecious street trees, was in a USDA booklet, from 1982, called "Genetic Improvement of Urban Street Trees."
How Bad Is Allergy Now?
In 1959 the official rate of allergy in the U.S. was between 2 to 5% of the public. By 1999 the official rate of allergy had increased to an incredible 38% of Americans. Asthma, which was once considered rare, is now the number one chronic childhood disease in the US.
Where are Allergies and Asthma the Worst?
The most common allergen of all is pollen and since there are so many more plants growing in the country than in the city, it would make sense then that there is more allergy and asthma in the countryside. Right? No, wrong! Allergies and asthma are far worse in the city than they are in the country.
Several things contribute to this:
1.Pavement makes a poor pollen trap. Pollen in the city often lands on pavement where wind can cause it to become airborne again. In naturally vegetated areas where there is much more vegetation, pollen often lands on and becomes stuck in grasses, shrubs and vines or in trees.
2.Cities have more air pollution, which weakens the immune system and lung function.
3.Stress, which is generally higher in cities, can contribute to both asthma and allergy development.
4.Increased carbon dioxide levels within cities causes pollen-forming plants to produce more pollen with each bloom cycle, and also often causes urban plants to bloom more often.
5.Pollen loads are actually far greater in cities because there is a sexual imbalance within the plant community. In the city there is a preponderance of male trees and shrubs, while in the rural areas there is almost always a complete balance of plant sexuality. The excess of male plants in the city results in an excess of pollen.
6.The very lack of female plant materials in the urban environment also is a prime factor in the epidemic of allergy and asthma. Female flowers carry an electrical negative (-) charge (the trees are grounded with their roots) and airborne pollen holds a positive (+) charge. The tree and the pollen are mutually attractive; thus a female plant becomes a very effective pollen trap for pollen of its own species. But with almost no female trees and shrubs in modern landscapes, most of the pollen remains airborne.
How to Improve Health and Air Quality through Tree Selection
Landscaping to reduce allergies, especially pollen allergies, is an idea that is coming into its own. In the past few years several books have been written on the subject and interest is growing rapidly.
With the addition of OPALS™, (Ogren Plant-Allergy Scale) arborists now have a means to design allergy-free plantings. This scale ranks all landscape plant materials on a simple 1 to 10 allergy basis. Trees that produce zero pollen, e.g., female cultivars, usually rank the best - number one. Trees that have abundant, highly allergenic pollen, especially those with very long bloom periods, are usually ranked the worst - in the 9-10 range. There are many trees and shrubs, however, that fall somewhere in between. Using a list of over 100 factors, OPALS™ numerically ranks each species and then further ranks the individual cultivars. There are often dramatic allergy differences even between two species in the same genus.
How Are Plants Allergy-Ranked?
OPALS™ was developed based on the following considerations: "What do plants that are well known to cause allergies have in common?" and "What do plants that are well known NOT to cause allergies have in common?" With these two questions it was possible to build two opposing sets of medical-botanical-allergy criteria. One set is positive and one set is negative. Examples of negative criteria: tiny flowers, excerted stamens, small (less than 25 microns in diameter) sized pollen grains, extended bloom period. Examples of positive criteria: complete flowered, sticky, heavy pollen grains, presence of nectaries, brief bloom period.
There are now over a hundred criteria used to develop OPALS™ rankings. Individual landscapers, city arborists, the USDA and the American Lung Association have already use the scale to make better landscaping decisions.
Based on the plant-allergy scale it is now possible to state, for example, that Acer rubrum - 'Red Sunset' maple, is ranked number one and causes no allergies. By comparison, 'Autumn Spire,' a male cultivar of red maple does cause allergies and is ranked number nine. Most Pine trees will rank at numbers 4 to 5 and will cause some allergy. Platanus species (sycamore) rank number eight, and cause quite a bit of allergy. A male Canary Island Palm, Phoenix canariensis, which is considered one of the worst at a ranking of 10, will produce an abundance of pollen that will cause severe allergic reactions to many living nearby.
Pollen dispersal rates have been measured since 1972 (Gilbert Raynor, NY meteorologist) and although many pollen grains travel far in the air, research shows that most often 99% of a tree's pollen falls out and sticks within fifty feet of the tree. This means that the closer one is to the pollinating tree the greater the exposure. Thus, the job for arborists is to plant trees that will not expose everyone near them to allergenic pollen.
So, How Do You Tell the Boys from the Girls?
It isn't always that obvious by looking at a tree (especially a young tree) as to whether or not it is a pollen-free female or a pollen-producing male. But since so many city trees are now asexually produced cultivars, the sex is predetermined. In the book Allergy-Free Gardening, which is the result of 15 years of research on this subject, several thousand trees were individually sexed and allergy-ranked. In some cities, pollen control ordinances are already on the books, although most of these could be improved an updated. Albuquerque, New Mexico is particular interesting, since it has attempted to curb allergies by prohibiting the sale and planting of any male cultivars.
As the public grows more knowledgeable about allergy-free landscapes, municipal arborists and landscape specialists will want to be ahead of the curve. They will want to show their clients that they are well-informed on the subject. In the future, instead of planting high allergy-trees, they will need to plan and plant 'healthy' urban landscapes.
References:
1.Lewis, Walter H., Airborne and Allergenic Pollen of North America, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1976.
2.Jacobson, Arthur Lee, North American Landscape Trees, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California, 1996.
3.Koch, Christopher Von, Allergy, Die Woche, pg. 27, July 7, 2000, Hamburg, Germany.
4.Dworschak, Manfred, Der Spiegel, Feind am StraBenrad, Pp. 174, 175, Nr. 29, 2000.
5.Ogren, Thomas Leo, Turn Back the Pollen Clock, New Scientist, London, Pp. 46, 47, June 3rd, 2000.
Travel Guide Hyderabad, India
Hyderabad, also commonly known as City of Nizams is the capital of Andhra Pradesh, which is the fifth largest metropolitan city in India. Of course that is not surprising considering the fact that this city is unique and has a character of its own, which is quite evident when you look at the astonishing blend of ancient, beautifully crafted buildings standing next to equally enthralling state-of-the-art offices and sky scrapers. The IT sector has made such a huge impact on the otherwise historical and ancestral city that sometimes it is referred to as Cyberabad.Hyderabad was named after a queen, Hyder Mahal, so Hyderabad literally means the City of Hyder. Lying next to the city, divided by a man-made lake called Hussain Sagar Lake, is Hyderabad's co-sister city, Secunderabad.Places to Visit and Tourist AttractionsHyderabad, with all its glorious temples and gardens and buildings, may as well be called a tourists paradise. And that's what it is if you're looking for a place that not only has the tinge history and culture, but is set against the most picturesque and glorious backdrop, Hyderabad is the place to go. World Tours and ResortsIn the heart of Hyderabad is the Charminar. A monument that is almost synonymous with Hyderabad it is that famous. The best idea is to hire a tour guide while exploring this city, not only will you not get lost and get to savor all the famous attractions of the city, but you will also get a taste of the history behind the buildings and monuments.Next in line is the Golconda Fort, from where the famous Kohinoor diamond was extracted. One can very well imagine what it would be like to visit the place where one of the largest diamonds of the world came from. It's a heady feeling in itself. Standing tall right next to the fort is the Qutub Shahi tomb which is a combination of Indian and Persian architecture, a beautiful tomb. The Paigh tombs such as these are a beautiful example of delicate and finesse work of art on marble.Next on the list is Raymond's tomb, built in the memory of a French General which is a very rare honor. The Salar Jung museum is again, a rarity as it is a single man's collection of over 40,000 artifacts from all over the world.Of course tourist attractions aren't all about history and culture, nature also plays an important role in the beauty of a place and how it attracts other people. Hyderabad is famous for its gorgeous lakes, which the local people boast about and through various activities such as boating, Para gliding, water scooters etc, for tourists at a very normal price range. Along with such sports, you get to see other treasures of nature such as birds which migrate to the lake every year and are a sight to see. One of the lakes is Gandhipet Lake, also called Osman Sagar, which is about 46 square kilometers, surrounded by lush green trees and vegetation. The Hussain Sagar Lake is another one of Hyderabad's finest with different statues of celebrities here and there along with a breathtaking statue of Buddha, towering out of the water.The Shamirpet Lake is a beautiful sight with flocks of deer quenching their thirst in the pristine waters. They are friendly enough to have a bite to eat from your hands. If ancient, historical and yet beautiful monuments, as well as lakes of pristine blue waters weren't enough, Hyderabad is also known best for its evergreen and beautiful gardens and parks.Indira Park which is near Hussain Sagar Lake is a treat, as the cool breeze refreshes you no end. If you're in the mood for some music and need to relax, visit the Lumbini park to view charming musical fountains, that are the most beautiful and haunting fountains, fit to relax you and wash away any tiredness of the day. The Public gardens are somewhere where one can go to enjoy simple nature and visit the heritage buildings which are a symbol of cultural and political heritage to Hyderabad.In the Sanjeevaiah Park, plant lovers will be able to find some very rare species of roses. The sights and smells of which are most soothing and calming to the body and mind. These parks are the ideal places for tourists to relax after a long day of touring and sight seeing, somewhere the children can run around and play and indulge in activities while the elders sit around, sampling some of the delicacies of Hyderabad, enjoying the smells of roses, the greenery and the fountains.If all this is not enough, to treat the children, take them to the Nehru Zoological Park, which has a Lion park safari, to give the children a taste of danger and excitement. You get the chance too catch the King of the jungle, laze around in the sun and watch over their young.Your trip won't be completed if you don't try out some of the famous delicacies of Hyderabad; world renown for their spicy content, taste bud tantalizing deliciousness, the food is a must-try. The food is exotic and is a combination of Mughal cuisine and of course the traditional Hyderabadi style. Of course the food is predominantly vegetarian, as Hindus don't eat meat. People along the coast eat fish and prawns. Right treat for your taste buds.Hyderabad is indeed a tourists' paradise and it would be a shame and an opportunity missed if one visits India and skirts past this magnificent city. If not for the culture, go for the sheer enjoyment of saying I've been to Hyderabad and I enjoyed every culture-enriched, body-soothing taste bud-tantalizing minute of it
Get your Jaipur tours, cheap tour packages India that come under your budget and lots more about India holidays, South India travel, adventure and wildlife tour India along with air tickets India tickets at economic rates.
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