Why don’t Some Trees Shed Their Leaves?

            Most of the trees and plants shed their leaves once a year usually during autumn, and new leaves sprout on them during spring. After the defoliation, these trees appear quite barren. The trees which shed leaves every year are called deciduous trees. However, there are other trees, which do not shed all their leaves at once, and thus they appear green throughout the year. Such trees are called evergreen trees. Why these trees do not shed their leaves at once?

Cypress Tree

Fir Tree

 Fir and cypress are well-known evergreen trees with dark leaves and hard wood

            The leaves of the trees, which undergo defoliation every year, live only for one year. On the other hand, leaves of the evergreen trees last for two to three years. As soon as leaf withers, it falls down and a new leaf takes its place. Thus all leaves of not fall at a time. As a result, the tree always retains a large number of leaves and this cycle continues.

            Among the well-known evergreen trees are pines and firs. Besides these, there are many other trees that always remain green. The Italian cypress found in Europe is one such tree. The olive plant also comes under the category of evergreen plants. Its oil is very useful to us. The magnolia plants are used for decoration because their white flowers are very beautiful and do not undergo defoliation.

            Perfumes are extracted from the evergreen plants of the rosemary. The juniper plants, having short and bitter leaves, which are found in North Britain, are famous for their greenness.

            In addition to these, other evergreen plants and trees are myrtle of Britain, oleander of North Africa, oak tree, ivy creeper, orange tree and tall palm tree. The tea plant also comes under the category of the evergreen plants.

Why do Flowers have Fragrance?

            Whenever we pass thorough garden during the spring season, the fragrance of flowers enchants us. Nature has endowed flowers with beauty, attractive colors, nectar and fragrance. Insects and flies get attracted to flowers and sit on them, and when they fly off, they carry with them the pollen grains to the flowers. This dispersing of pollen grains helps in cross pollination of flowers, as a result of which, seeds are produced. In this way, plants and trees multiply on their own.

Fragrance of flowers attract insects which help in pollination

            Different flowers contain different oils, which give them a specific fragrance. As these oils gradually keep on evaporating, the fragrance of the flowers spreads in the air. In fact, perfumes are prepared form the oils extracted from these flowers. There are various processes of making perfumes. In one process, flowers are kept in a pot through which steam is passed. The outgoing steam, takes out the oil, which is then passed through water. The oil brought out by the steam starts floating on water. This is then separated. There are other methods too.

            France produces the maximum amount of perfumes. It has been found that one ounce of rose perfume is extracted from 110 of rose flowers. Flowers like rose, Pandarus, lavender, jasmine, etc., are generally used for making perfumes.

            The anthocyanin pigment is responsible for producing red, blue and violet colors. The plastid pigment causes other colors. These pigments remain mixed in the juice of the flowers. The presence of chlorophyll and carotene make some flowers green. There are at least 200,000 kinds of flowers, ranging in size form the microscopic duckweed blossom with a diameter of 0.4 millimeter to the tropical Rafflesia with a diameter of 90 centimeter.