Canadian botanists take issue with the maple leaf depicted on Canada’s new twenty-dollar bill. Lønnebladet is not Canadian, but Norwegian.
The iconic red maple leaf is Canada’s most prominent symbol and is used in the Canadian flag, government logos, and countless other contexts where Canada is to be marketed.
But on the new twenty-dollar bill, in use since November, it is not the leaf of a Canadian sugar maple which is represented, but the leaf of a Norwegian maple, underlines the botanist Sean Blaney.
– It’s the wrong species, he says.
The Norwegian maple leaf has five lobes and more fibrous tips than that of Canada, underlines the botanist, who in the Canadian press is supported by several colleagues who have now looked into the question more closely. However, Canada’s central bank rejects the criticism.
– This is not a Norwegian pay slip. It is a stylized maple leaf, said bank spokeswoman Julie Girard.
According to her, a botanist participated in the design of the new banknote. Per her advice, the maple leaf was changed to look less like the Norwegian version, she claims.
Blaney, for his part, finds the central bank’s explanation hard to believe.
– That sounds like an explanation, he told Canadian national broadcaster CBC.
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