My IB Tree

At the beginning of our two year IB course, each student is going to choose a tree on or off campus which interests them. I, personally, did not choose a tree yet, but I already have two in my mind. Then we are going to keep a diary about our tree, if it grew, if it lost leaves, etc.

_____________________________________________________________________
Common name: Bico de Papagaio or Poinsettia
Scientific name: Euphorbia pulcherrima
Where is your tree located on campus?:
My tree is very close to the science department, on the right-hand at the end of the hallway. You pass my tree when you walk down the steps to the end of the lower school.

If you look very closely, you can identify both leave and flower.

The trees are of the same species, but their trunks are very different.

What attracted you to this tree?:

Not only its bright color called my attention, also the fact that, looking closely, the leaves of this tree are red, so that you cannot tell the difference between the leaf and the flower by standing far away. At first it seems as if the tree has only flowers.


What kind of changes do you expect to see over the two years?:
My expectation would be that over the rainy season the trees' leaves are going to loose their color and return being green instead of red. I also assume that the pretty red flowers will drop soon. 


After studying the tree for 20 minutes, what surprised you?:

I realized that no bird, no insect was around the tree, which could imply that the tree is in some way poisonous. I also did not notice before that the one tree is actually two separate trees, of the same kind. 


_____________________________________________________________________


1) Five aspects of my tree

1. The trunk of my tree from the ground to the beginning of the branches is 124 cm long. 

2. My tree's trunk is 28 cm wide.

3. It does not have only a few main branches, but rather dozens smaller ones.

4. The size of a random leaf was 17.5 cm

5. The width of the same random leaf was 4 cm

2) Description of its habitat

1. How much sun does it get? 

My tree gets fairly constantly sun from around 11 am until late afternoon. 

2. How often do they water your plant?

Every 2 days it gets a little amount of water through a water-sprinkler

1. 3. Is this it's natural habitat?

Yes

3) Describe specific adaptations that make it successful in its habitat.

As this is it's natural habitat, my tree didn't have to adapt compared to other trees on campus. However one observation I made was that my tree is taller than normal Bico de Papagaios.

4) Suggest possible symbiosis with other organisms.

As my tree is 'divided' into two separate trees, my suggestion would be that they are competing with each other. Other than that, there are no other greater plants or trees around. Also did I not notice any birds or insects who possibly harm the tree

_____________________________________________________________________

Measurements of my tree

1) Size: about 3,80 m

    Canopy: about 4 m

2) Light penetration of leaf

Leaf collected from the left hand-side: 27.9 %

Leaf collected from the right hand-side: 28.7 %

Leaf collected from the middle: 22.3%

3) pH of soil: 6.15

4) Temperature of soil: 22.1°C

_____________________________________________________________________

Why is the pH of soil important?

Soil gives away nutrients necessary for plants and trees to grow and fight of diseases. Now, if the pH is lower than 5.5 then the soil cannot make nitrogen and if the pH is lower than 6.0 the soil cannot give away phosphorus to the plants and trees.

Why is the temperature of soil important?

Plants respond to certain stimuli of which one is temperature. If the temperature is suitable for the plant or tree it is able to release plant hormones and it causes cell activity. The hormones released help cell growth and fruiting.