Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1876 — Curious Growth of a Tree. [ARTICLE]

Curious Growth of a Tree.

NearlNo. 53 Blandina street, in this city, stands a tree which has excited the wonder of all the dwellers in that vicinity. It is a maple, standing perhaps, fifteen feet from other maples on either side. For three years it has been completely girdled for a space of about three feet from the ground. During that time it has lived and flourished, producing foliage which has attracted the attention of ali observers for its peculiar brilliancy and deep green tint. The bark of the girdled portion was removed by natural decay, and above that portion it is perfectly sound. A natural aperture extends from the girdle upward about six feet, laying bare the somewhat decayed pith of the tree. And here is visible that which arouses the wonder and the theories of observers. A vine of some variety, it resembles an ivy vine,seems to have grown up the hollow heart of the tree. It appears plainly visible in the crevice. And thus the strange lift: and abnormal green ness are explained. It is thought that the

maple and the vine in its interior have combined, that the vine tears the sap past the area denuded of its bark, and that tlie extreme greenness of the verdure is due to the mingling of the life of the ivy. The vine or shoot does not seem to have grown above the aperture, and there is a possi bility that it is a maple shoot. Whatever the truth mav be, the tree has lived under a combination of circumstances which would have killed an ordinary tree, and it provides an opportunity for experiments by the student of saps* flow iu trees.— Utica (N. Y.) Herald: 7 ■■ -