Maria's Journal Entry
The Japanese maples, scientifically known as 'Acer Palmatum', is a small tree or large shrub that grows in a broad-round shape. They range from 2 to 30 feet tall but are prized for their variety of traits in shapes, colours and leaf sizes. Native to Japan, Korea and China, they have an elegant foliage particularly in the fall when the leaves change into a warm red-purple tone. The leaves in particular have a diverse shape, the word ‘palmatum’ in latin means ‘hand-like’ referring to the unique shape of Japanese Maple leaves. On a phylogenetic tree, Japanese Maples are categorized within the seed plant family and more specifically consist of a species within the soapberry family.
Throughout all of our observations, there exists a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees. A common adaptation on all of these seed plant species is that they consist of seed pods. The cause of this adaptation in most species is to protect their seeds from other organisms such as birds or squirrels. The seed pods of coniferous trees are structured in cones where as deciduous trees possess nuts. Although our observations were observed in a variety of regions, we were still able to determine a common adaptation.
