3A‘ mast year’ describes a year when there’ s a bumper crop of tree fruit and nuts. Bumper crops, such as acorns and beech mast, are thought to occur naturally every five to ten years to promote the future generation of species. One theory is that it’ s a form of predator control. Animals such as squirrels, mice, badgers and birds eat the tree produce, and their numbers are limited by the amount of food available. During a‘ mast year’ the animals can’ t eat it all, ensuring some trees can germinate into new saplings.
4Oak trees need to mature before reproducing. English oak trees( Quercus robur) do not produce acorns until they are around 40 years old.
5A banana is actually a berry.
Not only this, but a strawberry, thought to be the only fruit to produce seeds on the outside, is not a berry. This also applies to raspberries and blackberries. They are actually drupes(‘ stone’ fruit). Surprisingly, true berries include bananas, grapes, melons and oranges. sun. Some are more diminutive, including the aptly named‘ Teddy Bear’ variety which produces half pom-pom shaped flowers that are soft to the touch.
7
One plant might hide an elephant.
Pennisetum purpureum is native to Africa and able to survive on uncultivated land where water levels and nutrients are sparse. It’ s known as elephant grass, because it can grow up to 4.5 metres tall and therefore conceal an elephant.
Elephant grass can grow tall enough to hide an elephant
The fruits were named long before the precise definition was created. In botanical terms, a berry has three layers: the outer skin, or exocarp, the fleshy interior, termed the mesocarp, and the inside layer which holds the multiple seeds, called the endocarp.
6Sunflowers can be Teddy Bears. There are up to 70 species of sunflowers( Helianthus). They are not all yellow. Some come in red and purple varieties too. June is a great month to sow seeds directly into the ground but be wary of slugs. When in flower, sunflowers are excellent plants for pollinators and, once the seeds are mature, they make a nutritious snack for birds.
8You shouldn’ t drink cactus water. Despite tales of survival in a desert, it would be unwise to consume water stored inside a cactus leaf or stem. The liquid is extremely acidic and can damage human kidneys.
By Caroline Knight
Not all sunflowers produce huge heads that track the
26 < Boxmoor Direct < June 2025 <