Earth and Space News: American Chestnut Trees for Elementary Season Six's Meet Your Maker

Summary: Sherlock Holmes equates examining clues to extracting peas under shells from American chestnut trees on Elementary's Meet Your Maker July 23, 2018.

American chestnut (Castanea dentata), under synonym Castanea vesca; illustration of American chestnut tree full-grown fruit (fig. 1), leaves, catkin and nut (fig. 2) by French natural history artist Pancrace Bessa (Jan. 1, 1772-June 11, 1846); F.A. Michaux, The North American Sylva, vol. III (1819), Plate 104 (CIV), opposite page 9: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Accumulating pea-like clues from the severed quarters of one- to three-seeded shells from American chestnut trees allegorizes detective work in the Elementary procedural drama series episode Meet Your Maker July 23, 2018.

Director Ron Fortunato and writers Robert Doherty, Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Kelly Wheeler blend abduction, black-market weapons and forced labor in the sixth season's 12th episode. Her sister Lin Wen's (Samantha Quan) real estate company colleague, Derek Clay (Sean Meehan), contacts Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) concerning missing acquaintance Maria Rodriguez (Mirla Pereira). Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) describes the difficulties in determining which of about 36 same-named New Yorkers within a 30-mile (48.28-kilometer) radius disappeared four days ago.

Sherlock equates examining every 20-plus- to 30-plus-year-old Maria Rodriguez to "dogged drudgery of chasing down every lead, upending every chestnut shell to find that metaphorical pea."

Finding peas (Pisum sativum, from Greek πίσον, píson, "pea" and Latin satīvum, "sown") under 1.89- to 2.95-inch (48- to 75-centimeter) diameter burrs frustrates all New Yorkers.

American chestnut trees grow scantily, unobtrusively in the Fagaceae (from Latin fāgus, "beech" and -āceae, "resembling") family member's distribution ranges in one province and 30 states. Surviving American chestnuts outside Brooklyn Heights harvest spring through fall leaves, summer flowers and fruits and summer through fall seeds in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. American chestnut trees, identified by Humphry Marshall (Oct. 10, 1722-Nov. 5, 1801) and Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen (Dec. 3, 1760-Nov. 30, 1806), increase by cuttings and seeds.

American chestnut trees juggle broad-based, pointed-tip, red-brown, 0.47- to 0.98-inch- (12- to 25-millimeter-) long and wide seeds in four-sutured, green burrs with 0.47-inch- (12-millimeter-) long spines.

American chestnut trees keep hardy in temperature minimums between minus 4 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 and minus 15 degrees Celsius) on Sherlock's brownstone rooftop.

American chestnut trees, as monoecious (from Greek μόνος, mónos, "single" and οἰκία, oikía, "house") woody plants, lodge separate female and male downy, spike-like, stalked, green-white-yellow catkins. Leaf bases near green, hairless, slender twigs manifest many June- and July-growing 0.19-inch- (5-millimeter-) long male flowers in 5.91- to 7.87-inch (150- to 200-millimeter-) long catkins. Less numerous, similarly strong-scented female flowers of American chestnut trees, named scientifically Castanea dentata (from Greek καστάνεια, kastánea, "chestnut" and dentata, "toothed"), net 0.39-inch (10-millimeter) lengths.

American chestnut trees organize hairy, pointed-tip, wedge-based, yellow-green leaves with hairless undersides and toothed margins on alternate-located, semi-angled 0.32- to 1.58-inch- (8- to 40-millimeter-) long stalks.

Shiny, 3.54- to 11.81-inch- (90- to 300-millimeter-) long, 1.18- to 3.94-inch- (30- to 100-millimeter-) wide leaves possess parallel-lined veins from foliar midribs to curved, marginal teeth.

American chestnut trees queue up alongside bundle-scarred, semi-elevated, semi-oval leaf-scars blunt-pointed, broad-based 0.19- to 0.32-inch- (5- to 8-millimeter-) long side buds with three smooth brown-green-yellow scales. Blighted 9.84- to healthy 114.83-foot- (3- to 35-meter-) tall, 3.94-inch to 3.94-foot (100-millimeter- to 1.2-meter) diameter trees reveal 0.79- to 1.97-inch- (20- to 50-millimeter-) thick bark. Mixed birch, conifer, hickory, maple and oak upland Appalachian forests with clayey, loamy, moist, rocky, semi-acidic, sunny, well-drained soils sustain black-brown-, furrow-, ridge-barked, rounded-crown, stout-branched trees.

Sherlock's brownstone rooftop theoretically tenders American chestnut trees 60- to 70-plus-year lifespans in soil pHs 4 to 6 at maximum 3,937.01-foot (1,200-meter) altitudes above sea level.

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) and Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hall) upend "every chestnut shell to find that metaphorical pea" in CBS Elementary tv series' Meet Your Maker (season 6 episode 12): CBS Elementary promotional photo, via SpoilerTV July 19, 2018

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

American chestnut (Castanea dentata), under synonym Castanea vesca; illustration of American chestnut tree leaf, full-grown fruit (fig. 1), catkin and nut (fig. 2) by French natural history artist Pancrace Bessa (Jan. 1, 1772-June 11, 1846); engraved by J.N. Joly; F.A. Michaux, The North American Sylva, vol. III (1819), Plate 104 (CIV), opposite page 9: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NAS-104_Castanea_dentata.png;
University of Pittsburgh Library System, Copyright Status: Not provided. Contact Holding Institution to verify copyright status, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29147431;
via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/northamericansyl03mich/page/n23/mode/1up;
(1853; Plate 104, between pages 6 and 7, Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/northamericansyl31853mich/page/n24/mode/1up;
Not in copyright, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51642864;
Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/47869901331/

Borkhausen, Moritz Balthasar. 1800. Theoretisches-praktisches Handbuch der Forstbotanik und Forsttechnologie, erster theil (April-Mai 1800): 741. Giessen und Darmstadt, Germany: Georg Friedrich Heyer.

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London, England: George Newnes Ltd., 1892.

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Available @ http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500325

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/ficus-benjamina-botanical-illustrations.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/dimetrodon-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 January 2014. “Nanotyrannus Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Dead Clade Walking.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/nanotyrannus-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2013. “Fruit in Osage Orange Botanical Illustrations and Elementary Series.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/fruit-in-osage-orange-botanical.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 November 2013. “George Stubbs Painting The Godolphin Arabian and Elementary's Nutmeg.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/george-stubbs-painting-godolphin.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 November 2013. “John Wootton Painting The Darley Arabian and Elementary's Studhorse.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-darley-arabian.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-byerley-turk-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 August 2013. “Turner Fighting Temeraire Painting in Elementary Series Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/turner-fighting-temeraire-painting-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/paul-gauguin-painting-tahitian-women-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 May 2013. “Rubens Painting The Incredulity of St Thomas in Elementary's The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/rubens-painting-incredulity-of-st.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec-painting.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-bruegel-painted-parable-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/osmia-avosetta-natural-history.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/russian-tortoise-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 January 2013. “Costliest, World-Most Expensive Chopard Watch: 201 Carats at $25 Million.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/chopard-watch-worth-25-million-on.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/claude-monet-painting-nympheas-1918-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/paul-cezanne-still-life-painting-fruit.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/paul-signac-painting-women-at-well-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-van-gogh-pieta-painting-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/edward-hopper-painting-western-motel-in.html

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Earth and Space News

Saturday, July 28, 2018

American Chestnut Trees for Elementary Season Six's Meet Your Maker

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