“Only the tree peony is the most beautiful in the land, When it opens its blossoms, the whole capital stirs into motion.” Praise of the Peony, Liu Yuxi (transl. Mark Lewis) Mudan, King of Flowers, the tree peony, evokes strong sentiment, and Liu Yuxi’s poem* does not exaggerate the glory of Mudan flowers. Little has …
Category Archives: Making Associations with Collections
Aurantiacum
Isaac Newton published his early works in Latin, but issued a “Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light,” the volume titled Opticks, as his first book in English – perhaps because it’s as much a handbook (a vade mecum ) as a monograph. Though densely mathematical. Opticks is readable, even amusing in …
Dew Drop In
Morning is metaphorical awakening, at times sparkling with spectral, diamond-like glistenings of water droplets on grass leaves and foliage of other plants, and even spider webs throughout the landscape. Across cultures, that early moisture connotes a common freshness to daily life. Hosts for Japanese tea ceremonies might moisten the stone entry so as to welcome …
Primary Growth
People who wish to understand plants should stop worrying about tree rings; they really don’t get you anywhere. Think with me for a few minutes and take a lead from British poet Philip Larkin who turns our attention to leaves, which “begin afresh, afresh.” Set aside rings, at least for the moment. The Trees The …
Hamadryads
It’s funny how topics pop up. I was reading about oaks in Loudon’s Trees and Shrubs of Britain (Arboretum Et Fruticetum Britannicum) and ran into a reference to hamadryads, which took me to Wikipedia, where I unearthed Edgar Allan Poe’s “Sonnet – To Science”. Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art! Who alterest all …
Sail Away
Born in 1922, John Haskel Kemble passed away in 1990, having spent his entire adult life immersed in maritime matters. At his death, John bequeathed materials and endowment to The Huntington to support research in sailing and shipping. The material fabric of his life festoons the Library as ship models and paintings. And there are …
ROY G BIV
Bein’ Green, by Joe Raposo It’s not that easy bein’ green Having to spend each day the Color of the leaves When I think it could be nicer Bein’ red or yellow or gold Or something much more colorful like that Joe Raposo wrote this soliloquy for Kermit, a song covered by scores of artists, …
Oak Oak
Plant and Animal scientific names share origins in the works of Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who consistently applied a generic name (the Genus) and a specific epithet (the Species) to each different kind of plant and animal. Linnaeus had absolute ideas as to how a name would be applied, but nothing was set in …
We Walk Invisible
In 1884, Thomas Folkard published his charming and thorough Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics. Embracing the Myths, Superstitions, Traditions, and Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom (a copy of which is in the Huntington Library Rare Book collections). In the many chapters, Folkard covers a wealth of cultural information regarding plants from around the world. One …
Juliet
In early morning, Shakespeare’s Juliet exhorts Romeo to linger, commenting on bird calls in the surrounding orchard: “It was the nightingale and not the lark, That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree.” Why the nightingale, why a lark, why the pomegranate? Readily-available student notes bring us to …