Plants

Thursday, 20 August 2026
21 facts about olives
21 facts about olives
"Where the olive refuses to grow, there the Mediterranean world ends"
It is not known exactly when and where the first olive tree, characteristic of the Mediterranean region, grew. Paleobotanists claim that wild olives g ...

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Sugar maple
A typical sugar maple tree grows up to 35 meters.
The tallest recorded sugar maple measures over 38 meters high.
Mandarines
Clementine is a crossbreed of mandarin orange and sweet orange.
It is one of the tastiest varieties of mandarine, with a characteristic reddish color. They peel easily, and their flesh is juicy and often seedless. It was bred in the early 20th century in Africa.
Cerbera odollam
Cerbera is an evergreen tree reaching up to 15 m in height.
It has gray cracked bark and the crown of the tree is rounded. The thirty centimeter long leaves are oblong-ovate, dark green, glossy with a distinctly pointed tip.
Jerusalem artichoke
Topinambur tubers are juicy and slightly sweet.
They contain up to 17 percent inulin, accounting for 75-80 percent of all carbohydrates. The remaini ...
Rapeseed
Canola oil used to be notorious for its high content of erucic acid.
This acid has toxic effects on the body. It makes up as much as 50% of the fatty acids in this oil.
Poinsettia
The poinsettia, outside its natural habitat, is grown as a potted flower and various chemicals are used to limit its growth.
In the tropical and subtropical regions this species is cultivated as an ornamental garden plant. In ...
Avocado
The avocado trade is so beneficial that it has become an interest of drug cartels.
There are known cases of seizing cultivations by the mafia.
Cornflower
It has been a symbol of social liberalism in Sweden since the early 20th century.
It is also the official flower of the Swedish province of Östergötland.
Aloe vera
Raw aloe vera has a bitter taste.
Although it is safe for oral ingestion, consuming increased amounts of aloe vera may cause diarrhea and stomach ache.
Saguaro cactus
Earliest documented use of saguaro dates back to 1540 when Pedro de Castañeda noticed O'odham tribesmen collecting cactus fruits.
He wrote a brief note about harvest and ritual of preparing fermented juice of cactus fruits.