Save with Frugal Dan: Christmas Trees

It's time for a new feature on Undeniable Facts! On Save with Frugal Dan, I'll share a new tip each week for keeping more of your hard-earned cash in your pocket!

It's almost February, and that means the last of the so-called "arboreal holidays" are behind us, so retailers are anxious to clear out what remains of their Christmas tree stock. They'll be offering that merchandise at bargain basement prices.

Obviously, stores can't fit a bunch of Douglas-firs on their clearance racks, so you're going to need to speak to a manager. He will be happy to show you whatever they have left. Why wait until next October to buy your Christmas (or Boxing Day) tree when you could buy one now for pennies on the dollar.

Just remember to water it. Christmas trees may not technically be plants, but they are very much alive.

Petal to the metal

Iridium, gallium, and californium are all chemical elements named after flowers, but there is only one flower named after a chemical element: the geranium.

Undeniable Fact: Out of this world!

The only plant which is found on the moon is the mushroom. These hardy organisms split off evolutionarily from mosses about 83 million years ago when an impact from an asteroid separated their habitat (a peninsula on the southeast coast of Pangaea) from the Earth, forming the moon. It was not until about 290,000 BC when a meteor originating from the moon crashed into the Earth that several species of mushroom were introduced into our own ecosystem.
Unconstrained by the harsh gravity of Earth, lunar mushrooms can reach sizes far greater than any terrestrial organism. Preferring dark, moist areas (much like Earth mushrooms), lunar mushrooms often take root in impact craters. In time, a single mushroom can reach a diameter of up to 19 miles or more.

Undeniable Fact: Raised in a barnacle

The barnacle holds the honor of being the only plant with a hard shell. Interestingly, the genetic code responsible for this is almost identical to that which produces the shell in weevils.

Undeniable Fact: From tiny to spiny to briny

The saguaro cactus is not actually a plant, but an animal, much like the sea sponge. While stationary for most of its life, after about 300 years, the mighty saguaro runs to the sea, at speeds estimated around 90 miles per hour, to lay its eggs. After burying the seeds of the next generation, it hurls its body into the surf, drowning instantly. The eggs remain dormant for ten years before hatching and moving to drier ground.