Way off topic - Hedge apples are ripe
Pelarg@aol.com (Sat, 18 Oct 2008 05:45:44 PDT)

Hi Mark,
Thanks, will try it on the big metal knife used to section the fruits, but
using disposable gloves and plastic implements worked really well, 2 classes
came up with an average seed count in the high 300's per fruit. I also had
them put newspaper on the desks to keep the latex off the desks. It works well
as a lab, the students get really into it, b/c the fruits are so weird and
the counting takes some time, giving the students time to ask a lot of
questions. They also have to get the "technique" of extracting the seeds, which
requires breaking up the sections and squeezing the seeds out. I then have them do
calculations of fruit and seed set per tree, per acre, etc, and then research
on the net the extinct megafauna that apparently dispersed the fruit. I
tell them that they are probably the only students doing a lab on this tree in
the whole country.
Ernie

In a message dated 10/17/2008 9:53:28 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
markmazerandfm13@earthlink.net writes:

gloves are

best as the latex is hard to remove and itchy to some. It also destroyed

our

dissection scalpels, they latex won't wash off with soap and water, one

needs

nasty stuff like acetone to get it off the blades, but then the plastic
handles are weakened. So this year I am going to use a large knife to

quarter the

fruits, and plastic disposable knives for the students to pick out the

seeds.

Ernie:

Try mineral oil (or peanut butter, but that might prove problematic in your
school setting) to remove the sticky substance from the scalpels.

Old fashioned "orange sticks", used to manipulate cuticles during a
manicure, were made from osage orange wood.

Cheers,
Mark Mazer
Hertfor4d, North Carolina, USA
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