#12: Put a Cork in it

I don’t think I knew that cork came from trees until I was in high school. I think I just assumed that it was manmade, like plastic. If you were unaware, like me, let me tell you now that it is the phellem layer of the bark of the Quercus suber or cork oak.

And I definitely couldn’t have told you where these cork oaks grow; I think I probably would have assumed the Amazon since so many things come from the Amazon. But actually, the biggest producer of cork is the European nation of Portugal.