Maple Leaf

After seeing so much leafs at our party I had to publish this post that I had already in mind for a long time but never found a right occasion to post it.

The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree, and is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as Maple.
Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in Sapindaceae. The type species of the genus is Acer pseudoplatanus (Sycamore Maple).

There are approximately 125 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America.

The word Acer is derived from a Latin word meaning "sharp", referring to the characteristic points on maple leaves. It was first applied to the genus by the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in 1700. A red maple leaf is the prominent feature of the flag of Canada.

Maples are important as source of syrup and wood. Dried wood is often used for the smoking of food. They are also cultivated as ornamental plants and have benefits for tourism and agriculture.

The Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) is tapped for sap, which is then boiled to produce maple syrup or made into maple sugar or maple taffy. It takes about 40 litres of Sugar Maple sap to make a litre of syrup. Syrup can be made from closely-related species as well, but their output is inferior.

Other uses

• The U.S. city of Carthage, Missouri, is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City."
• The Italian city of Campobasso was known as the "Maple Leaf City", since during the Second World War the Canadian troops invaded the city and freed it from the Germans. Moreover the city has a huge variety of maples which can be found even in the streets.
• The mascot of Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, is the Maple Leaf and the nickname for Goshen College sports teams is the Maple Leafs.
• In Estonia, inexperienced drivers are obliged to have a green maple leaf sign visible on the vehicle, serving a similar function that a P-plate does in some other countries.
• The maple leaf is also the coat of arms of Sammatti, Finland.
• The MMORPG Maplestory uses a maple leaf as part of their logo.
• The city of Hornell, New York is known as "The Maple City".

And of cause there is the Maple leaf Rag, recorded on Pianola Roll actually played by Scott Joplin

The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime composition for piano by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and is one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces, becoming the first instrumental piece to sell over one million copies of sheet music.

In 1916, Joplin recorded the "Maple Leaf Rag" on a piano roll on the Connorized and Aeolian Uni-Record labels, along with his other ragtime pieces - "Something Doing", "Magnetic Rag", "Ole Miss Rag" (composed by W.C. Handy), "Weeping Willow" and "Pleasant Moments - Ragtime Waltz".

Source Wikipedia