furry stuff from a tree

[Nefertiti]

Hi RD.

I can't get into the Website.

But I did see some pictures from other Websites.

It doesn't look like the tree is "bear hair".

I was told that the fuzzy stuff is from the tree's fruit or seeds.

But the tree apparently is not a fruit tree.

Thanks anyway.

[BobK]

Hi RD.

I can't get into the Website.

But I did see some pictures from other Websites.

It doesn't look like the tree is "bear hair".

I was told that the fuzzy stuff is from the tree's fruit or seeds.

But the tree apparently is not a fruit tree.

Thanks anyway.

Nor could I, Nefertiti - perhaps RB's link is personalized to him in some way. But I searched and reached this public page: Botany Photo of the Day: Nephelium lappaceum cultivar
(Don't be put off by the term 'fruit'. Every tree bears fruit - it's the way they pass on their genes to the next generation; they coat their seeds in various ways, to make them attractive to all sorts of animals and birds that will unwittingly help in dispersing the seeds - otherwise seed dispersal would always depend on gravity. "Fruit", to a botanist, doesn't mean "fruit edible or attractive to the human palate"; a tree's fruit may be tiny and bitter - even poisonous to some animals.

b

[Anglika]

Hi RD.

I can't get into the Website.

But I did see some pictures from other Websites.

It doesn't look like the tree is "bear hair".

I was told that the fuzzy stuff is from the tree's fruit or seeds.

But the tree apparently is not a fruit tree.

Thanks anyway.

Another thought = the London Plane has brown fruit which will be dropping off now and which will leave brown residues. This is a picture of one: http://tinyurl.com/5qo39y

[Nefertiti]

Hi Ang,

You got it! Bingo.


I'm not a botanic professor therefore I can't be 100% sure. But I did check the leaf shape, the fruit ...etc.

In America, it's called American Plane or Sycamore. The one in question should belong to this family.

So, is there a phrase or a few words for the 'brown residues'?

Thanks a lot.

[Anglika]

We just call it "that revolting brown mush"

No - I have never met a specific term for this. But then here it usually breaks down quickly with the rain and the traffic passing over it, and flushes into the drains - which then of course block up and cause floods

[BobK]

Here's one I picked up yesterday (see file attached, if you can make out the rather fuzzy picture). The fruit of the maple grows on the tree as a ball about 3-4cm across, but when it falls the outer coating of brown fluff easily falls off (as I know to my cost - I must remember the vacuum cleaner for my study floor! ) This is from a London Plane (to give it the name used at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew; I imagine in Madrid platanus hispanica they use a different name. )

The American Plane (sometimes called the 'buttonball' I believe) is closely related. The London Plane is a cross between the American Plane and platanus orientalis.

b

[Kraken]

In America, it's called American Plane or Sycamore.

"Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singin’ in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me"


Sorry, I just couldn't help it!

[BobK]

That's interesting. I didn't realize that in that song 'sycamore tree' meant American Plane. In Br English the name 'sycamore tree' is reserved for another species of tree that is unrelated to the plane (though similar-looking) - the European Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus); Sycamore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

b