Is the federal government removing the penny because it is useless currency or because the maple leaves on it are not maple leaves?
As a certified arborist and one who went to horticultural college and became familiar with plant identification and plant taxonomy, I was challenged to look at the penny to see if it was a maple. To my shock and disbelief it is not. All maples are defined as having “opposite” leaves and buds. This means each leaf or bud will have a “twin” leaf or bud directly across the stem from each other. The leaves or buds arise in pairs from the same point on the stem as direct opposites.
The branch with its leaves and buds on the penny is clearly “alternate” which means the leaves or buds do not connect to the stem opposite each other. The bud or leaf arises from the stem as a single leaf or bud at each stem node. Deciding whether a tree has opposite or alternate leaves is one of the first steps taken in plant taxonomy to accurately identify a tree. The stems of opposite leaf trees tend to be straight, while alternate leafed stems tend to zigzag back and forth. Even if the buds or leaves are removed from the stem, you can still tell if it is opposite or alternate by the swelling of the stem below the buds. This branch on the penny could not possibly be a maple due to its “alternate” pattern.
The tree depicted on the penny is Platanus acerifolia, the London plane tree (synonym P.x hispanica). This tree is thought to be a hybrid between western plane tree (Platanus occidentalis), a native tree to eastern North America, and a European plane tree (Platanus orientalis) a tree native to the Balkans and western Asia. These trees are otherwise known as the sycamores. The hybrid species Platanus acerifolia has been widely planted as a street, boulevard, and park tree, especially in southern Ontario where pollution tolerant trees are needed. This tree is most often mistaken for a maple. In the Latin species word “acerifolia” acer is the Latin word for the maple genus and folia refers to the foliage meaning the foliage is “maple-like.”
The Canadian Mint is not alone in making this mistake. I have seen the leaves of this tree used several times to represent a maple leaf in television advertisements, to brand maple leaf products, for Olympic promotions, and to stand for all things “Canadian.”
One of the methods of identifying that the leaves used are London plane tree is the flatness of the leaf. Platanus comes from the Greek word for flat. Plane tree leaves are very flat compared to maples which tend to have a puffiness between the veins. As well, Plane tree leaves, while quite variable, tend to be slightly broader at the base. The leaf petiole or leaf stock on a London plane tree is short and thick and its length is roughly one half of the length of the leaf. On most maples the petiole is long and thin; its length is equal to or greater than the length of the leaf.
While most arborists can distinguish London plane by its mottled bark and strong structure and form, the other way of distinguishing this tree from maple is the seed capsule. Maples have a two-winged “samara” while plane trees have a round button-like seed capsule. Plane trees are also called the button tree or buttonwood tree in some parts of North America.
Instead of pulling the penny and changing everyone’s advertising, we could just change the slogan, The Maple Leaf Forever to The Sycamore Leaf Forever.
Yes, the maple leaf look like one combination? Or error? And the article is new for the young and old for the old. So what the best numistic words and thank you...
You see, there are several species of trees with rather similar leafs, plus there is a huge variability of the shapes even within one single tree (I bet you've seen that yourself). Plus - the "effigy" of the maple leaf on a coin is a simplified artistic rendition, not a photo or drawing done with the purpose of species identification. Yes, it might look (to someone) as another species - so what? Do you really care? I don't.
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I found it interesting and haven't heard of it before also I learned something about the bastard platane.
But yes it would fit better in free discussion.
I'm not sure what to think about this (not being an arborist), but it is clear that the "penny" was withdrawn for economic reasons, not because of the reverse design. Note that the maple leaf was used also in 1862 and 1864 as part of the New Brunswick 20¢ reverse design:
Citeer: "Camerinvs"
I'm not sure what to think about this (not being an arborist)...
I am not an arborist either (though I do have degree in biology) and I can easily challenge the author on his "theory". I can even get anal and nail him on a couple of points where he is simply wrong or completely incorrect - but is it worth the trouble?
As I mentioned before, we are actually discussing the heraldicsymbol, not an image from the plant biology textbook.
If you follow the logic of the author, you should also criticize the lions on the most of coats of arms (they look more like cheetahs judging by their body shape) and, just by the way, don't you find that on the latest effigies, Elisabeth II looks more like the queen mother?
Для всього свій час, і година своя кожній справі під небом
Citeer: "Camerinvs"I'm not sure what to think about this (not being an arborist)...
I am not an arborist either (though I do have degree in biology) and I can easily challenge the author on his "theory". I can even get anal and nail him on a couple of points where he is simply wrong or completely incorrect - but is it worth the trouble?
As I mentioned before, we are actually discussing the heraldicsymbol, not an image from the plant biology textbook.
If you follow the logic of the author, you should also criticize the lions on the most of coats of arms (they look more like cheetahs judging by their body shape) and, just by the way, don't you find that on the latest effigies, Elisabeth II looks more like the queen mother?
Those are good points. Since ALLRED1950 mentions the flag, we could argue that the maple leaf on it has nothing natural about it, though we recognize it as a maple leaf.
The Canadian pre-1937 coin series have a naturalistic-looking but somewhat unrealistic rendering, for example the 50¢:
Coins are not meant to be used in the Biology classroom as exact reproductions of natural life. Try to make a crown with maple twigs as on the 50¢; it will never look that good. So, indeed, we can look at them as heraldic symbols.
By the way, is the maple tree a fruit or a vegetable? I'm asking because I'm not sure whether my maple syrup counts as a fruit or a vegetable in the Canadian Food Guide.
Citeer: "Camerinvs"By the way, is the maple tree a fruit or a vegetable? I'm asking because I'm not sure whether my maple syrup counts as a fruit or a vegetable in the Canadian Food Guide.
Neither fruit nor vegetable - it's a tree. In strict biological terms, the distinctive "seeds" of the maple tree (called "samaras", "maple keys", "helicopters", "whirlybirds", etc.) are fruits, but it has very little in common with a word "fruit" in an everyday "grocery" sense.
And in the Canadian Food Guide, I would look for the maple syrup in the section "Sugars and syrups"
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Maple syrup belongs on the table , great stuff. A lot of work. I helped make a few times. One thing I would like to try is to make sugar from it. Had it but a pit hard , not to burn.
Off subject , Then coffee is a fruit? Well it is made from the nut ,seed.
Citeer: "ALLRED1950" Maple syrup belongs on the table , great stuff. A lot of work. I helped make a few times. One thing I would like to try is to make sugar from it. Had it but a pit hard , not to burn.
Off subject , Then coffee is a fruit? Well it is made from the nut ,seed.
I've seen the sugar made of maple syrup, one can find it in "organic food" stores. As for the home-made one, the trick is to keep the temperature as low as possible during the water evaporation - otherwise it will get these nasty "burn" taste.
The coffee is actually a seed (bean) from the coffee fruit, though it's not the nut since there is no hard shell around it.
Для всього свій час, і година своя кожній справі під небом
Well, I just lost my excuse to substitute maple syrup for a vegetable serving. I didn't think collecting coins would be good for my health in that way...
I have argued in the past that coffee was just another plant-based drink. I think I make the best coffee in the world ─ espresso, but long.
Another related way in which coin designs are not reflecting reality is how the ruler ─emperor, king, queen, etc.─ is usually represented in an idealized way. Already in Rome, emperor Augustus was always represented on his coins as if he was 25 or thereabout, which was in line with the ideology of him being the son of the divine Julius Caesar. And of course we know how queen Elizabeth II is always represented to look younger than she actually is, without any wrinkles...
Citeer: "ALLRED1950" Odd we gone from maple leafs to maple syrup to coffee to eagles
You forgot ugly kings!
I was in Mexico in 1985 (a month before the earthquake) and I thought their coins were ridiculously big for what they were worth. I had a great hotel room at the Majestic, next to the Zócalo, which was cheaper by the day because of the high inflation rates.
I purchased a 1919 Canadian 50¢ from a coin store in a part of the city which was basically leveled by the earthquake, though I'm not sure about that particular store.
I didn't think collecting coins would be good for my health in 
