olivia_colter's Journal

Scleroderma citrinum, also known as the Common Earthball, are a pale-brown to yellow-brown colour and are shaped similar to a potato. Their main habitat is on compacted paths in forests and are mainly found in mainland Europe and North America. Scleroderma citrinum is a poisonous species to animals and humans due to the exposure from its spores. The flesh inside a young earth ball is normally whitish and can sometimes be pink. When it begins to age its flesh turns into a purple-brown colour, then turns into black colour with what looks like small white veins running through it. The spores of a Scleroderma citrinum are spherical and spiky, and when they mature the spores will rupture creating a large opening which disperses the spores into the rain and wind.

One of the trees that I observed at Park Mount Royal was the Norway maple tree ( acer platanoides ). This tree has a unique adaptation of the shape and size of their leaves compared to other maple trees. The Norway maple leaves have bigger serrations compared to other maple trees as well as they have five main leaf points which no other maple leaves have. Also, the Norway maple leaves never turn red, they develop black spots on their leaves and then turn yellow before they fall off. One adaptation that all of the observations have in common is that all of the leaves on the trees are green and have a very similar leaf structure. All the leaves on the trees have a similar lining on their leaves. They also all have the same vascular structure where they obtain their nutrients and water through their roots into the trunk and branches of the tree and then will lose their water through the leaves. The leaves have a similar shape as well as similar lining on the leaves. The phylogeny placement of the Norway maple is the acer platanoides which is a species that is native to eastern and central Europe and was introduced to North America in the mid-1700s.