The Scarlet Pimpernel
The improbable hero of Orczy’s adventure novel took cover behind a common roadside weed.
Which side of the French Revolution (the 1789 one, we mean) are you on?
In the anti-monarchical U.S., we tend to side with our fellow Revolutionaries, acknowledging that sometimes a few
Local and Holy: Venezuela’s National Flower
Prolific, native, flamboyant as they come — and exclusive: Michael Sinn demonstrates how this flower crowns itself.
In popular culture, Cattleya mossiae is known by many different names in its native country of Venezuela: Flor de Mayo (May flower), Mayito (Little May) and Flor del
Citizen Carnation
For Madrid’s grandest festival, admission is free. But there’s a floral badge to belong.
How does a sodbuster become a saint? Like anyone else: with miracles and the pullies of culture.
Isidro de Merlo y Quintana (1070 -1130) more than qualified. Supernatural accountants attribute 438
Gardenias On The Left — Billie Holiday
With vocal improvisations to beat the band—and white flowers behind her ear—Eleanora Fagan became Billie Holiday.
Athena had her helmet and Spanky McFarland his two-tone beanie . Where would The Cat in the Hat be today except for that teetering stovepipe with the stripes ?
Shapla: Wild, Curried, Currency
The water lily crops up everywhere in Bangladesh, from coinage to kitchens to haors.
As the Inuit have many names for “snow,” the people of Bangladesh see within their wetlands “ beels ,” “haors” and “baors.” All are varieties of lagoons in this, one of
Cinquefoil: I’ve Got a Secret
A white rose is still mysteriously fresh after five centuries.
At the Musee National du Moyen Age – what English speakers in Paris call “The Cluny Museum” – flowers bloom by the thousands, most of them five hundred years old. In tapestry, stone, gold, and
Makahiya— Shy Heroine of the Philippines
A blossom newly named for President Arroyo sets off fury in a land of flower legends.
Maybe because its countryside is so very lush, Philippine Island culture abounds with creation myths, legends that “remind us of our connection to nature. We have a lot of
The Mayflower
Thorny hedge or creeping shrub? There’s cross-Atlantic dispute over which plant gave its name to the Pilgrims’ ship.
At daybreak November 9, 1620, passengers on the Mayflower at last spotted land. They’d been on board for 66 days, having left Southampton, England, on September 16,
