Hi Everyone:
 
Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the Cuphea spp.
 
The several hundred widely spread species in this genus have been of interest for about a decade, because of the unique composition of their seed oils. This varies with species, with the most interesting having over 80% lauric acid (Graham et al. 1981, Graham and Kleiman 1985). As most species are small herbaceous plants and many are adapted to the colder regions of highland Mexico, it is hoped that a mechanized crop suitable for temperate climates might be developed and reduce the dependency of lauric oil importing countries on wildly fluctuating supplies from coconut producers. Satisfactory yields have not been achieved in the USA because of shattering (Hirsinger and Knowles 1984, Hirsinger 1985). Attention has been drawn to several other problems such as seed dormancy, slow growth and the variable chromosome numbers and fatty acid composition observed in different species (Arkcoll 1988). Many wild species have not yet been studied and an effort is being made to collect this germplasm in order to locate desirable characteristics. Research is also in progress to obtain indehiscence through mutations and also to splice the appropriate Cuphea genes into a conventional crop such as rape (Thompson 1984, Tokay 1985). Sudden success in either of these efforts could lead rapidly to the development of an important new crop to supply the enormous market for lauric oils. It would also help to expand markets for medium chain (mixtures of C8 and C10) triglycerides that have considerable commercial potential, especially as lubricants and nutritionally desirable and medically useful oils (Bach and Babayan 1982). There is considerable interest in the pharmacological properties of extracts from the whole plant of some species used as a cure-all in local folk medicine in Brazil. There is now scientific confirmation of several potentially useful separate effects including depression of the central nervous system and the ability to reduce blood pressure in experimental animals (Ericeira et al. 1984).  (source - retrieved from  http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-367.html   on  3/29/2013)
 
Several Cuphea species are popular ornamental plants or honey plants. C. ignea 'David Verity' and C. micropetalia are popular plants to attract hummingbirds.
Some species of Cuphea are used to produce cuphea oil, of interest as sources of medium-chain triglycerides. For most purposes, cuphea oil is identical to coconut oil and palm oil; these are derived from strictly tropical plants however and – particularly in the latter case – the expanding production of which has caused a considerable amount of habitat destruction. Cuphea may thus produce a valuable source of income for farmers in temperate regions, and by supplementing coconut and palm oil to satisfy the growing demand (e.g. for biodiesel production) at the same time decreasing the need for wholesale logging in tropical countries. Early attempts at commercial production have focused on an interspecific hybrid population derived from C. lanceolata and Clammy Cuphea (C. viscosissima).
 
Cuphea has also been shown to improve agricultural crops in North America when used in crop rotation. Crop rotation is commonly practiced among farmers to improve soil quality, control host-specific pests, and decrease the use of fertilizers and pesticides. When cuphea was introduced into the crop rotation of corn and wheat, scientists from the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA found that the addition of cuphea had positive effects on the following harvest, including a higher yield of crop and crops that are higher in protein.[1] Such research reveals how cuphea can be used in agriculture to increase the profitability of crops like wheat and corn.
The seed oils of some species are very rich in one particular fatty acid. C. painteri oil, for example, is about three-quarters caprylic acid; C. carthagenensis oil consists of about 80% lauric acid. C. koehneana oil may be the richest natural source of a single fatty acid, with 95% of its content consisting of capric acid.
 
Selected species
 
Cuphea procumbens fruits
* Cuphea aspera Chapman
* Cuphea carthagenensis (Jacq.) J.F.MacBr.
* Cuphea cyanea DC.
* Cuphea decandra W.T.Aiton
* Cuphea epilobiifolia
* Cuphea hookeriana Walp.
* Cuphea hyssopifolia Kunth – false heather, Mexican heather
* Cuphea ignea A.DC.
* Cuphea ingrata Cham. et Schltdl.
* Cuphea jorullensis Kunth
* Cuphea koehneana Rose
* Cuphea laminuligera Koehne
* Cuphea lanceolata W.T.Aiton
* Cuphea linarioides Cham. et Schltdl.
* Cuphea llavea Lex. – bat-faced cuphea [4]
* Cuphea lutea Rose
* Cuphea lutescens Hoehne
* Cuphea melvilla Lindl.
* Cuphea mesostemon Koehne
* Cuphea micropetala Kunth
* Cuphea nudicostata
* Cuphea painteri Rose
* Cuphea procumbens Ortega
* Cuphea salvadorensis Standl.
* Cuphea speciosa Mart.
* Cuphea strigulosa
* Cuphea viscosissima Jacq. – clammy cuphea, blue waxweed, tarweed
* Cuphea wrightii A.Gray[5]
 
References
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cuphea
 
 
Wikispecies has information related to: Cuphea
1. ^ "Cuphea P. Browne". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1994-09-07. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
2. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
3. ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. I: A-C. CRC Press. p. 664. ISBN 978-0-8493-2675-2.
4. ^ Rainy Side Gardeners: Cuphea llavea 'Tiny Mice'
5. ^ "Species Records of Cuphea". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
Categories:
* Cuphea
* Lythraceae  (source - retrieved from   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuphea  on  //2013)
 
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org].
 
View plant and fruit at,  http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Cuphea+spp.+&qpvt=Cuphea+spp.+&FORM=IGRE
 
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth."Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to www.jw.org!
 
 
 
 

 
Hi Everyone:
 
Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the custard-apple, also called bullock's heart or bull's heart, is the fruit of the tree Annona reticulata. This species is a small deciduous or semievergreen tree sometimes reaching 10 m (33 ft) tall; it is a native of the tropical New World that prefers low elevations, and a warm, humid climate. It is cultivated in many tropical countries, and also occurs as feral populations in many parts of the world, including Southeast Asia, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Australia, and Africa.
 
The fruits are variable in shape, oblong, or irregular. The size ranges from 7–12 cm (2.8–4.7 in). When ripe, the fruit is brown or yellowish, with red highlights and a varying degree of reticulation, depending on variety. The flavor is sweet and pleasant, akin to the taste of 'traditional' custard. [source - retrieved from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard-apple on  1/05/2013]
 
Both in tree and in fruit, the custard apple, Annona reticulata L., is generally rated as the mediocre or "ugly duckling" species among the prominent members of this genus. Its descriptive English name has been widely misapplied to other species and to the hybrid ATEMOYA, and it is sometimes erroneously termed "sugar apple", "sweetsop" and, by Spanish-speaking people, "anon" or "rinon", in India, "ramphal", all properly applied only to Annona squamosa. It has, itself, acquired relatively few appropriate regional names. Most commonly employed as an alternate name in English-speaking areas is bullock's-heart or bull's-heart; in French, coeur de boeuf; Portuguese, coracao de boi; in Spanish, often merely corazon—all alluding to its form and external blush. The skin color is reflected in the Bolivian name, chirimoya roia, the Salvadoran anona rosada, and the Guatemalan anona roja or anona colorada. In the latter country it is also known as anona de seso. Araticum ape or araticum do mato are additional names in Brazil. Some people refer to it as Jamaica apple, or as netted custard apple, which is translated as anona de redecilla in Honduras and Nicaragua. Cachiman, cachiman coeur de boeuf and corossol sauvage may be heard in the French-influenced West Indies.
 
The custard apple tree is not especially attractive. It is erect, with a rounded or spreading crown and trunk 10 to 14 in (25-35 cm) thick. Height ranges from 15 to 35 ft (4.5-10 m). The ill-smelling leaves are deciduous, alternate, oblong or narrow-lanceolate, 4 to 8 in (10-20 cm) long, 3/4 to 2 in (2 5 cm) wide, with conspicuous veins. Flowers, in drooping clusters, are fragrant, slender, with 3 outer fleshy, narrow petals 3/4 to 1 1/4 in (2 3 cm) long; light-green externally and pale-yellow with a dark-red or purple spot on the inside at the base. The flowers never fully open.
 
The compound fruit, 3 l/4 to 6 1/2 in (8-16 cm) in diameter, may be symmetrically heart-shaped, lopsided, or irregular; or nearly round, or oblate, with a deep or shallow depression at the base. The skin, thin but tough, may be yellow or brownish when ripe, with a pink, reddish or brownish-red blush, and faintly, moderately, or distinctly reticulated. There is a thick, cream-white layer of custardlike, somewhat granular, flesh beneath the skin surrounding the concolorous moderately juicy segments, in many of which there is a single, hard, dark-brown or black, glossy seed, oblong, smooth, less than 1/2 in (1.25 cm) long. Actual seed counts have been 55, 60 and 76. A pointed, fibrous, central core, attached to the thick stem, extends more than halfway through the fruit. The flavor is sweet and agreeable though without the distinct character of the cherimoya, sugar apple, or atemoya.  [source - retrieved from  http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/custard_apple.html on  1/04/2013]
 
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org]
.
Cultivars
'Tikal'
is of excellent quality and medium yield; its flesh is bright-red, except in the white areas surrounding the seeds.
'Canul'
has a medium fruit with a waxy, shiny dark-red surface and purplish red flesh; it is very aromatic and deliciously sweet with few concretions of hard cells.
'Sarteneja'
has a medium fruit with a waxy, shiny red surface and pink flesh with a magnificent taste and texture, although the fruit is not as attractive in appearance as that of the previous two cultivars. The tree is sturdier.
'San Pablo'
has a long, large fruit with an opaque, light-red surface. The flesh is dark-pink with a good aroma and taste. It is a vigorous, productive cultivar.
'Benque'
has a big, conical fruit with a dark-red surface and very tasty dark-pink flesh.
'Caledonia'
has a small fruit with a dark surface: it is very attractive to cochineal insects (Philophaedra spp.), which are not very common in other varieties. The flesh is pink and has an excellent taste.
'Chonox'
has a medium fruit with a red skin and juicy, very tasty pink flesh; it is very productive, so often has low-quality fruit. It produces abundant flowers in groups of up to 16  [source - retrieved from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard-apple on  1/05/2013]
 
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth."Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to www.jw.org!
 
 
 
 

 
Hi Everyone:
 
Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around Iraq. It grows 70–75 feet in height, growing singly or forming a clump with several stems from a single root system. The leaves are 4–6 m long, with spines on the petiole, and pinnate, with about 150 leaflets; the leaflets are 30 cm long and 2 cm wide. The full span of the crown ranges from 6 to 10 m. Dates contain 20–70 calories each, depending on size and species.
 
The fruit is known as a date. The fruit's English name (through Old French), as well as the Latin species name dactylifera, both come from the Greek word for "finger," dáktulos, because of the fruit's elongated shape. Dates are oval-cylindrical, 3–7 cm long, and 2–3 cm diameter, and when ripe, range from bright red to bright yellow in colour, depending on variety. Dates contain a single stone about 2–2.5 cm long and 6–8 mm thick. Three main cultivar groups of date exist: soft (e.g. 'Barhee', 'Halawy', 'Khadrawy', 'Medjool'), semi-dry (e.g. 'Dayri', 'Deglet Noor', 'Zahdi'), and dry (e.g. 'Thoory'). The type of fruit depends on the glucose, fructose and sucrose content.
 
The date palm is dioecious, having separate male and female plants. They can be easily grown from seed, but only 50% of seedlings will be female and hence fruit bearing, and dates from seedling plants are often smaller and of poorer quality. Most commercial plantations thus use cuttings of heavily cropping cultivars. Plants grown from cuttings will fruit 2–3 years earlier than seedling plants.
Dates are naturally wind pollinated but in both traditional oasis horticulture and in the modern commercial orchards they are entirely pollinated manually. Natural pollination occurs with about an equal number of male and female plants. However, with assistance, one male can pollinate up to 100 females. Since the males are of value only as pollinators, this allows the growers to use their resources for many more fruit producing female plants. Some growers do not even maintain any male plants as male flowers become available at local markets at pollination time. Manual pollination is done by skilled labourers on ladders. In some areas such as Iraq the pollinator climbs the tree using a special climbing tool that wraps around the tree trunk and the climber's back to keep him attached to the trunk while climbing. Less often the pollen may be blown onto the female flowers by a wind machine.
 
Fresh dates, clockwise from top right: crunchy, crunchy opened, soft out of skin, soft.
 
Parthenocarpic cultivars are available but the seedless fruit is smaller and of lower quality.[citation needed]
Dates ripen in four stages, which are known throughout the world by their Arabic names kimri (unripe), khlal (full-size, crunchy), rutab (ripe, soft), tamar (ripe, sun-dried).
 
Dates are an important traditional crop in Iraq, Arabia, and north Africa west to Morocco and are mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible. In Islamic culture, dates and yogurt or milk are traditionally the first foods consumed for Iftar after the sun has set during Ramadan. Dates (especially Medjool and Deglet Noor) are also cultivated in southern California, Arizona and southern Florida in the United States.
Date palms can take 4 to 8 years after planting before they will bear fruit, and produce viable yields for commercial harvest between 7 to 10 years. Mature date palms can produce 80–120 kilograms (176–264 lb) of dates per harvest season, although they do not all ripen at the same time so several harvests are required. In order to get fruit of marketable quality, the bunches of dates must be thinned and bagged or covered before ripening so that the remaining fruits grow larger and are protected from weather and pests such as birds. [source - retrieved from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_dactylifera on  1/04/2013]
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org].
 
Instructions for starting and planting date seeds:
1.
o 1
Purchase date palm seeds or some whole dates at the local grocery store. If you buy whole dates, take off as much of the meat off the seed as you can. Then soak the seeds for 48 hours in a bowl of water. Change the water two or three times and pick the rest of meat off with a pair of tweezers. The meat on the seed will cause mold if not picked off.
o 2
Place vermiculite in a sandwich-sized plastic dish that has a lid. Mix in 2 tsp. of water and the seeds. Place the lid on the dish and put it in a warm place in your home. Some warm places may be over your stove, over a water heater or near a heater boiler.
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o 3
Check the seeds every two or three days. If the vermiculite gets completely dry, add a few drops of water. Watch for the seeds to sprout.
o 4
Place sprouted seeds in a small flower pot full of compost, just under the surface. Water them enough to dampen soil, but don't over water. Keep warm and damp and you will see a leaf start to grow from the soil.
o 5
Transplant into a larger pot by putting a layer of stones and filling the rest of the pot with well-draining soil. Dig a hole in the center and place the entire contents of the small pot in the hole. Place the pot in a sunny place. Transplant outside when the plant is about 4 feet tall.
o 6
Decide on a place in your yard to plant the seedling tree. It will need full sun and it will grow up to 100 feet, so it will need plenty of space. Plant the tree outside when it is warm both day and night.
o 7
Plant the tree by digging a hole larger than the pot. Line the hole with compost and place all the dirt and tree from its pot into the hole. Fertilize with fertilizer made for fruit trees or manure. If using manure, don't let it touch the trunk of a very young tree.
o 8
Water when the soil feels dry. As the tree gets larger, water every week to every other week in summer, but water longer. It will only need to be watered every 20 to 30 days the rest of the year. [source - retrieved from  http://www.ehow.com/how_5009733_grow-date-trees-seed.html on  1/04/2013]
 
Read more: How to Grow Date Trees From a Seed | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5009733_grow-date-trees-seed.html#ixzz2HKXG0kTa.
How this tree and other plants absorb water from the ground.   Plants have developed an effective system to absorb, translocate, store, and utilize water.  Plants contain a vast network of conduits, which consists of xylem and phloem tissues.  These conducting tissues start in the roots and continue up through the trunks of trees, into the branches and then into every leaf.  Phloem tissue is made of living elongated cells that are connected to one another and responsible for translocating nutrients and sugars (carbohydrates), which are produced by leaves for energy and growth.  The xylem is also composed of elongated cells but once the cells are formed, they die.  The walls of the xylem cells still remain intact and serve as an excellent peipline to transport water from the roots to the leaves.
 
The main driving force of water uptake and transport into a plant is transpiration of water from leaves through specialized openings called stomata.  Heat from the sun causes the water to evaporate, setting this ‘water chain’ in motion.  The evaporation creates a negative water vapor pressure.  Water is pulled into the leaf to replace the water that has transpired from the leaf.  This pulling of water, or tension, occurs in the xylem of the leaf.  Since the xylem is a continuous water column that extends from the leaf to the roots, this negative water pressure extends into the roots and results in water uptake from the soil.  [adapted from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=follow-up-how-do-trees-ca ]
 
Clearly this clever water transport system shows a superior intelligence of the Creator (YHWH).
 
 
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to http://www.jw.org!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Everyone:
 
Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the Decaisnea Lindl. is a synonym of Tropidia, an orchid genus.
 
Classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class:
Magnoliopsida
Order:
Ranunculales
Family:
Lardizabalaceae
Genus:
Decaisnea
Hook.f. & Thomson
Species
Decaisnea fargesii
Decaisnea insignis
Decaisnea also known as dead man's fingers is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lardizabalaceae, native to eastern Asia, from China west to Nepal and south to Myanmar.
 
The genus comprises one or two species, depending on taxonomic opinion. Decaisnea insignis (Griffith) Hook.f. & Thomson was described from Nepal, and is sometimes restricted to the plants occurring in the Himalaya, with Chinese plants distinguished as Decaisnea fargesii Franchet. The only cited distinction (e.g. Bean 1973, Rushforth 1999) between the plants from the two regions is the fruit colour, yellow-green in D. insignis and bluish in D. fargesii. This is of little significance and the two are now combined under the older name D. insignis by some authors (e.g. Flora of China).
 
They are deciduous shrubs or small trees growing to 5-8 m tall with trunks up to 20 cm diameter. The leaves are pinnate, 60-90 cm long, with 13-25 leaflets, each leaflet 7-15 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. The flowers are produced in drooping panicles 25-50 cm long, each flower greenish-yellow, 3-6 cm diameter, with six sepals and no petals. The fruit is a soft greenish-yellow to bluish pod-like follicle 7-10 cm long and 2-3 cm diameter, filled with an edible transparent glutinous jelly-like pulp containing numerous flat black seeds 1 cm diameter.
Cultivation and uses
 
 
Decaisnea fargesii fruit
Decaisnea is grown as an ornamental plant for its bold foliage and decorative fruit, bright blue in many cultivated plants, hence the common name dead man's fingers. Most plants in cultivation derive from Chinese seed and are commonly grown under the name D. fargesii.
 
Decaisnea belongs to the chocolate vine family. Its range covers the Himalayas to western China. The plants are deciduous shrubs and noted for their showy ornamental edible fruit. It is not very hard to grow in cooler temperate climates, in a fertile, well-drained soil. They are quite frost hardy, able to tolerate temperatures down to at least -15°C (5°F). USDA Zones 6-10  (source - retrieved from   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaisnea  on  4/1/2013)
 
Noteworthy Characteristics
Decaisnea fargesii is an upright, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub that is native to woodlands, thickets, mountain slopes and ravines in western China, Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal and Sikkim. This shrub typically grows to 20' tall and as wide. It is ornamentally grown in some areas for its long odd-pinnate leaves, its monoecious flowers in drooping racemes and its exceptional metallic blue bean-like fruit pods. Each leaf (to 36" long) has 13-25 ovate to elliptic leaflets that are dark green above and glaucous green beneath. Drooping racemes (to 18" long) of apetalous, bell-shaped, green to yellow-green flowers bloom in summer. Although individual flowers are not particularly showy, the large racemes in bloom are interesting and attractive. Flowers give way to the piece de resistance: cylindrical, bean-like seed pods (to 4" long) that ripen to blue in fall. It is these fruits (actually fleshy follicles) that distinguish this plant. Common names of deadman's fingers, blue sausage fruit, blue cucumber shrub and blue bean tree all convey the general message that the fruits are quite interesting and unique. Fruits will split open at maturity to reveal a large mass of seeds imbedded in edible pulp. Lepchas (aboriginal inhabitants of Sikkim) relish this fruit, but it is not eaten much outside its native geographic range. This species was discovered by Pere Paul Guillaume Farges (1844-1912) who lived in China and collected and recorded plants there from 1867 until his death. Decaisnea was originally considered to have only two species, D. insignis and D. fargesii, with the only difference between the two being that the former had yellow green fruit and the latter had blue fruit. Today, some experts continue to list two different species (see Royal Horticultural Society), but others have combined both species into D. insignis (see Flora of China).  (source - retrieved from   http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/d289/decaisnea-fargesii.aspx  on  4/1/2013)
 
The strange blue sausage fruits bears 3-5", slender fruits that look much like its name suggests. Fruits are edible, with a somewhat sweet flavor, through are not cultivated. Popular as an ornamental or conversation piece. Deciduous, grows to 10-15 feet. Hardy to 0F and a bit lower  (source - retrieved from   http://www.tradewindsfruitstore.com/servlet/the-2131/Decaisnea-fargesii--dsh--Blue/Detail  on  4/1/2013)
 
 
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org].
 
View this plant and fruit at,  https://www.google.com/search?q=Decaisnea+Fargesii&hl=en&client=firefox&hs=YhB&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=KS5aUZr6FfW14AODsYDgDQ&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=854
 
 
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth."Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to www.jw.org!
 
 
 
 

Hi Everyone:
 
Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the Monkey Plum, Diospyros lycioides, occurs in Central Africa, southern Tanzania, throughout southern Africa, including South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, but excluding the winter-rainfall area. It is occasionally cultivated in South Africa and elsewhere in the tropics. In Australia it also naturalized and categorized as a weed.
 
Vernacular names  
 
Bluebush, bluebush star-apple, red star-apple, monkey plum, African persimmon (En). Plaqueminier élégant (Fr). 
 
Uses
 
Pieces of root of Diospyros lycioides are widely and commonly used as toothbrush, and pieces of the stem are used similarly in some areas. The small-sized wood is mainly suitable for small items of furniture and carvings such as trinket boxes, spoons and handles for tools and implements. Occasionally the wood is used in hut construction, especially where smaller branches are needed. It is also used for fencing and as fuel. The leaves are important browse for both domestic and wild animals, although it is said to taint the milk of cows. In southern Africa the fruit and seed are used as food and are also used to make beer. Fruits are also fermented to distil alcohol. The roasted ground seeds were once used as a coffee substitute. A yellowish brown dye is obtained from the roots while the bark is used for tanning skins. In Botswana the dye is used to colour palm leaves for basketry. The plant is a bee forage. In South Africa and some parts of Europe, Diospyros lycioides is planted in gardens and used in landscaping.
 
The roots are used medicinally by local people. The root is chewed for the treatment of colds and coughs. The powdered root or a root extract is used against eye ailments. The roasted and powdered root mixed with mutton fat makes a thorn plaster and is used to ease body pain. The powdered root bark is used as an abortifacient; it is also rubbed into scarifications to treat patients with pneumonia or snake-bites. Root decoctions are held in the mouth to allay toothache or gargled against a sore throat, and they are drunk against female infertility, blood in the stool, abdominal pain, body pain, cardiac pain, and epilepsy. Root decoctions are taken against dysmenorrhoea and form part of a medicine given to vomiting babies. The root decoction and the raw fruit are considered to be effective against tuberculosis. In South Africa decoctions of the root mixed with those of Cassia petersiana (Bolle) Lock and Euclea natalensis A.DC. are eaten with sheep or goat meat to treat epilepsy and asthma.
The Venda people use Diospyros lycioides, mixed with Gardenia sp., to appease the spirit of a young man who has died before marriage. In times of war they use parts of this tree mixed with hedgehog prickles and duiker blood to provide protection against enemies. In Zimbabwe and Malawi pieces of root are buried in the corners of the house as protection against witchcraft. 
 
Production and international trade  
 
The fruits are traded locally in southern Africa. In Australia Diospyros lycioides is a quarantined weed which requires assessment before entry into the country. There are no restrictions on its importation in the United States. 
 
Properties
Chewing the root gives the teeth a yellow colour. In a health survey in Namibia users of Diospyros lycioides toothbrushes were found to have less caries than non-users. Early analyses of extracts of the leaves and young twigs yielded lupeol and ursolic acid. Later, methanol extracts of the twigs were found to inhibit growth of several common oral pathogens, including Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, Prevotella intermedia and Porphyromonas gingivalis which supports their use as chewing sticks. The bactericidal effect has been attributed to several naphthalene glycosides (named diospyrosides), bi-naphthalenone glycosides, and the naphtoquinones juglone and 7-methyljuglone. Methylnaphthazarin, mamegakinone and 8’-hydroxyisodiospyrin have been identified in a trichlormethanol extract of the powdered root bark.
 
The heartwood of Diospyros lycioides is pink-brown and distinct from the paler sapwood. The wood is moderately durable. It is resistant to impregnation and tends to warp if not properly stacked and dried slowly. It saws cleanly and holds nails well. It planes to a fairly smooth finish. It takes paint and varnish well and glues firmly. The wood sands and polishes well. Mechanical strength and shrinkage values not known. Weight at 12% moisture content is about 750 kg/m³. The commercial availability of timber is restricted due to small size.
 
The fruit pulp contains per 100 g: water 78.0 g, energy 296 kJ (71 kcal), protein 0.9 g, fat 0.1 g, carbohydrate 16.5 g, crude fibre 3.5 g, Ca 66.8 mg, Mg 39.7 mg, P 13.7 mg, Fe 1.0 mg, Zn 0.3 mg, thiamin 0.11 mg, riboflavin 0.09 mg, niacin 0.17 mg, ascorbic acid 45.2 mg (Wehmeijer, A.S., 1986). The fruit is not very popular; it may be slightly poisonous for humans.
 
In South Africa the nutritional value of the browse was analyzed. Leaves contain 12–14 g crude protein per 100 g dry matter, twigs 7.6 g when 2 mm in diameter, 4.6 g at 10 mm diameter and further declining with thickness. Another analysis indicated that the leaves contain per 100 g dry matter 12.5 g crude protein and 54,4 g neutral detergent fibre (NDF), and the twigs 5.7 g crude protein and 64,2 g NDF. Poisoning has been recorded in sheep after they had eaten the leaves and fruits. Alkaloids have been detected in the leaf. Extracts of stem and leaves have shown dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing cyclooxyenase enzymes.
 
The tough roots rapidly blunt ploughs and other tools. 
 
Description  
 
Dioecious shrub or small tree up to 7 m tall, sometimes much smaller; bole sometimes spinescent towards the base; bark grey, more or less smooth. Leaves clustered at the ends of branches, simple and entire; petiole 3–15 mm long; blade obovate to oblanceolate, 1.5–8 cm × 0.5–3 cm, base cuneate, apex broadly tapering to rounded to acute, margin entire and tightly rolled under, papery to leathery, drying dull green or grey-green above, paler beneath, lower surface sparsely to densely silky hairy when young, hairs sometimes persistent, especially on the veins, midrib and lateral veins not prominently raised, secondary veins in 5–6 pairs. Flowers solitary in axils of leaves or reduced leaves towards base of current year’s growth, 8–15 mm in diameter, pendulous, creamy white, fragrant; pedicel slender, up to 3 cm long; calyx up to 8 mm long, deeply cleft into 5 lobes, densely silky hairy, lobes narrowly deltate or lanceolate-acuminate; corolla up to 1 cm. long, bell-shaped, widely open at the throat, densely strigulose outside, lobed to just below the middle, lobes 5, ovate-oblong, obtuse; male flower with 10 stamens 3–4.5 mm long, with glabrous filaments and narrowly lanceolate, apiculate, densely setose anthers, pistillode similar to functional pistil but with reduced styles and lacking stigmas; female flower with 10 densely setose staminodes 1–2 mm long, ovary subglobose, 2.5 mm × 2.5 mm, ridged, tomentellous, 6, 8 or 10-celled, styles (3–)5, common part puberulous, style-branches glabrous, ending in a shallowly bi-lobed stigma. Fruit an ovoid or globose berry up to 2 cm × 1.5 cm, apiculate, red, becoming black, downy hairy or glabrescent, persistent calyx accrescent, up to 1.5 cm long, lobes narrowly deltate and ultimately strongly reflexed, 1–6-seeded. Seeds up to 13 mm long, brown, smooth. 
 
Other botanical information  
 
Diospyros is a large pantropical genus of about 500 tree species. Most of them are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. In tropical Africa, about 90 species occur, several of which produce valuable timber or edible fruits; in Madagascar also about 90 species occur. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that Diospyros section Royena is a distinct, monophyletic group of closely related species. It has been considered a separate genus, but most authorities retain it as a section of Diospyros.
 
In Diospyros lycioides 4 subspecies are recognized differing mainly in leaf form and distribution:
 
– subsp. lycioides (synonym: Royena lycioides (Desf.) A.DC.; vernacular name: Karoo bluebush): shrub or small tree up to 7 m tall; branchlets spreading at right angles or slightly ascending at the ends, occasionally spinescent; leaves crowded towards the tips, blade up to 4 cm × 1.5 cm, glabrous or slightly velvety, lateral veins not raised. It is mainly found in Botswana, Zimbabwe and the drier parts of Namibia and South Africa, in riparian forest and thicket at 600–1000(–2700) m altitude.
–
– subsp. guerkei (Kuntze) De Winter (synonym: Royena guerkei Kuntze; vernacular names: quilted bluebush, eastern bluebush, Natal bluebush): shrub or small tree up to 5 m tall; branchlets ascending, not spinescent; leaves not crowded, blade 2–5 cm × 1–2 cm, distinctly net-veined. It occurs in Botswana and north-eastern South Africa, in rocky habitats, often associated with quartzite outcrops, from sea-level up to 2150 m altitude.
–
– subsp. nitens (Harv. ex Hiern) De Winter (synonym: Royena nitens Harv. ex Hiern; vernacular name: silvery bluebush): small, multi-stemmed shrub up to 1.5 m tall; leaf blade small, up to 2 cm × 1 cm, densely covered with silvery hairs. It occurs in north-eastern South Africa, in dry, hot bushveld, grasslands and rocky outcrops, from sea-level up to 1550 m altitude.
–
– subsp. sericea (Bernh.) De Winter (synonym: Royena sericea Bernh.; vernacular names: eastern bluebush, Kalahari star apple, hairy bluebush, Natal bluebush): shrub or small tree up to 7 m tall; branchlets usually ascending, with the leaves inserted more or less evenly along their length, rarely spinescent; leaf blade up to 8 cm × 3 cm, densely hairy. It is distributed from Upper Shaba in DR Congo and Angola southwards to Namibia and eastern Cape Province in South Africa, occurring from sea-level up to 2000 m altitude in bushland and thicket, especially on riverbanks and termite mounds and in rocky locations, sometimes at edges of riparian forest or forming secondary thickets following over-grazing.
–  
 
Growth and development
 
 
Early growth is fast. In Zimbabwe trees produce fruits after 4 years. In southern Africa flowering is in (August–)September–December(–April), and fruiting in (November–)January–May(–October). Old fruits remain on the tree until the next flowering season. Diospyros lycioides is in leaf year round, with some bare individuals in winter and with new leaves in September–November. The species forms thickets from the root system.
 
Ecology
 
Diospyros lycioides is one of the most widely distributed and ecologically versatile woody species in southern Africa. It occurs from sea-level up to 2700 m altitude and is most common in open vegetation, often along rivers or on termite mounds. It is an indicator of bush encroachment in rangeland in South Africa. 
 
Propagation and planting
 
Diospyros lycioides seeds are orthodox and store well. Propagation is best done with seeds soaked overnight in hot water. Propagation by cuttings is very difficult. The 1000-seed weight is 90–140 g. Seedlings require exposure to full sun, but can tolerate very cold conditions. Natural dispersal of seed is mainly by mammals that eat the fruit.  (source - retrieved from    http://www.prota4u.org/protav8.asp?h=M4,lycioides&p=Diospyros+lycioides on  3/18/2013)
 
 
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org].
 
To view pictures of this plant and its fruit, go to,  http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Diospyros+lycioides+Monkey+Plum&qpvt=Diospyros+lycioides+Monkey+Plum&FORM=IGRE
 
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