QUESTION: Is mistletoe grown commercially or harvested from wild sources?
Mistletoe is usually a by-product of traditional apple orchards in Hereford and Worcestershire. However, with the decline in some of those orchards due to agricultural change, there is increased interest in strategic mistletoe harvesting and marketing.
Viscum album is the traditional white-berried mistletoe of northern Europe. Mistletoe is a hemiparasite, with its own leaves and own photosynthesis.
It can be managed as part of a healthy orchard without trouble, but where these become neglected, it can destroy its host.
Berry bliss: You can grow mistletoe
Mistletoe can be grown commercially and for conservation purposes. For instance, colonies have been planted at sites including Kew Gardens, Chelsea Physic Garden and Lambeth Palace.
You can grow your own mistletoe from mistletoe berries. One option is to cut into the bark of the tree to create a flap under which to rub a berry mush.
Mistletoe can germinate just by basting the mush on a gnarly area of an old apple tree. It can take five years to appear in any quantity and then must be managed. You can buy mistletoe growing kits. These usually contain 50 berries with a recording form to keep track of each planting.
Jessica Lowton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.
QUESTION: Has a new mineral been created out of waste plastic?
These are so-called plastiglomerates, a type of rock precursor that forms when molten plastic debris, such as fragments of bottles, bags and other plastic items, come into contact with natural materials such as sand, shells, rocks and wood on beaches.
The plastic melts and fuses with the natural materials, creating a new composite material that incorporates both plastic and natural components.
The term ‘plastiglomerate’ was coined by a team of researchers led by geologist Dr Patricia Corcoran.
Plastiglomerate was discovered in 2006 by Charles Moore, a sea captain and oceanographer at Algalita Marine Research and Education in California. Moore was surveying plastic washed up on Kamilo Beach, a remote, polluted stretch of sand on Hawaii’s Big Island.
The formation of plastiglomerates is a result of human activities, particularly the improper disposal of plastic waste. These materials can have long-lasting environmental impacts, as they become incorporated into coastal ecosystems and geological formations.
David Salt, Plymouth, Devon.
QUESTION: What methods were used for onboard ship communication during World War I?
The Cruel Sea (1953); Jack Hawkins (1910-1973) pictured as Captain Ericson, in a scene from the film which tells the story of a British convoy escort ship and its officers during World War II
Further to the earlier answer, voice pipes were used to powerful dramatic effect in the 1953 film The Cruel Sea, when Captain Ericson (Jack Hawkins) hears the screams of men trapped in his burning, sinking ship through the voice pipes, and then imagines that he hears them again on board his new ship in harbour.
Noelle Hall, Ashford, Kent.