What is the meaning of "the acid of cypress trees"?

[gonghoujun]

Dear Teacher,
I do not know the meaning of "the acid of cypress trees" in this sentence below:
We stopped in the afternoons to fish for a few minutes in little rivers turned black by the acid of cypress trees.
The word acid is mis-spelling? Explain it, Please.
Thanks!

 

[Rover_KE]

[STRIKE]Dear Teacher,[/STRIKE] Unnecessary,

I do not know the meaning of "the acid of cypress trees" in this sentence below:

We stopped in the afternoons to fish for a few minutes in little rivers turned black by the acid of cypress trees.

Is the word acid a mis-spelling? Explain it, please.

Please state the source and author of any text you quote.

Cypress trees are acidic. Click here to read more. I found that page by googling 'the acid of cypress trees'.

Somebody else may be able to explain why acid turns rivers black.

(Not an arborealist)

 

[gonghoujun]

Thank Mr. Rover_KE very much for your reply of my question.
Please see this link:www.unsv.com/voanews/specialenglish

 

[Rover_KE]

I don't want to read the entire lengthy text in a link. You should just have mentioned in post #1 that the sentence was from 'A Life on the Road' by Charles Kuralt.

 

[gonghoujun]

This paragragh is:
Since my mother was busy teaching school, somebody had to take care of me. The answer to the problem caused a little trouble for my father, I imagine, but it was perfect in my opinion. He took me with him on his trips. As we rode along the country roads, my father told me stories. We stopped in the afternoons to fish for a few minutes in little rivers turned black by the acid of cypress trees. We stopped in the evenings to eat meals of pork, sweet potatoes and grains.

 

[Barb_D]

Do you understand the scientific principles of acids and bases?
As Rover's link shows, cypress trees are naturally acidic. The chemical composition affects the water around them by turning the water black.

 

[GoesStation]

Cypress trees release large quantities of tannic acid which colors the water.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks very much, [STRIKE]Mr.[/STRIKE] Rover_KE, [STRIKE]very much[/STRIKE] for your reply [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] to my question.

See my corrections above. There is no need to prefix usernames with Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms etc - it's overly formal and it makes assumptions about the sex of the user.

 

[gonghoujun]

Thanks very much, emsr2d2，for your corrections to my post.

 

[gonghoujun]

I do not understand the scientific principles of acids and bases, but now after reading posts which you, all experts, have replied to my question, I know the meaning of the acid of cypress trees. I Thanks very much, all experts, for your answers and corrections to my post here.

 

[tedmc]

Do you understand the scientific principles of acids and bases?
As Rover's link shows, cypress trees are naturally acidic. The chemical composition affects the water around them by turning the water black.

As a matter of interest, how does the tannic acid change the water to black? Of course, this is a chemistry question and not a question on English.

 

[GoesStation]

As a matter of interest, how does the tannic acid change the water to black? Of course, this is a chemistry question and not a question on English question.

Tannic acid is itself dark colored.