RARE TREE YIELDING LEMONADE FOUND ON SOUTH AFRICAN TRIP

Shannon News, 25 January 1929, Page 2

RARE TREE YIELDING LEMONADE FOUND ON SOUTH AFRICAN TRIP

NEW YORK. A' tree which grows “lemonades” is one of a number of strange species found by James A. G. Dayey xn the course of a 50,000-milo trip around the world from which he has returned to New York. The tree is called-the baobab, or cream of tartar tree. It grows in Rhodesia, South Africa, in the vicinity of Victoria Falls, on the Zambesi River. Its pod is about the size of a large cucumber and contains, in addition to the seeds, a fine white powder. The powder, according to Mr. Dayey, looks like cream of tartar. The.natives make a hole in the pod, fill it with water and shake it vigorously. The result, he said, is a drink which tastesi like lemonade. Will Continue Explorations. Mr. Davey's trip, which carried him also to Hawaii, the South Sea Islands, New Zealand and Australia, was to “mako the acquaintance” of interesting and unusual trees throughout the world. He will leave here again within a few months to continue his “tree tour ’ ’ throughout the Holy Land and Asia.

Making thousands of photographs and drawing comparisons between the trees of different parts of the world, Mr. Davey intends to compile a collection of material of extensive general character on trees. The major purpose of the trips, he said, is to “ pay friendly visits to great trees,” which have become his hobby as well a 3 his work since his father, the founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company, first interested him in trees when he was a boy. ‘ ‘ One of the most interesting trees which I photographed on my trip was the Australian Black Boy, or grass tree, which is found in Western Australia,” Mr. Davey told a Monitor reporter. Traced to Paleozoic Age. “The black boy is one of the oldest species, geologically, growing in the •world to-day. To picture it properly, one should visualise dinosaurs roaming near it, and see it as a part of the landscape in which prehistoric animals moved. It is really a living fossil, one of the oldest living things which can be traced back to the paleoozic era.”

Mr. Davey made no attempt to keep a count of the number of varieties of trees he saw. There are more than 350 species of eucalypti alone, he said.

The most effective reforestation work which he found on his trip was in South Africa, Mr. Davey said. This region now has no native trees of commercial size, but has planted huge acreages of Monterey pine, imported from the United States.

Among other interesting trees mentioned by Mr. Davey are the pohotukawa, a New Zealand hardwood tree of great delicacy, whose crimson flower during the holiday season gives it the name of Christmas tree, and the Hawaiian monkey pod tree, whose branches often spread 150 feet. Mr. Davey, who was accompanied by Mrs. Davey, travelled the length of Africa by rail, motor-car and on foot.