Не отставал от своего коллеги и сэр Вильям Джексон Хукер, бывший в свое время директором ботанического сада Кью. Хукер "подарил" нам витфиелдию (уайтфилдию) - деревце с кожистыми темными листьями и прелестными белыми цветами; а также растение с весьма странным названием "ятрофа подагрическая" и с не менее странными привычками - ярко цветущее и забавное, оно ядовито - и зачем его держать дома? Кто их поймет, этих англичан!
Английские дамы никогда не отставали от своих мужественных соотечественников - это утверждение верно и для ботаники.
Сестры Элизабет и Сара Мэри Фиттон опубликовали в Лондоне книгу "ConversationsonBotany" в 1850 г По всей видимости, именно за это в их честь и было названо открытое чуть позднее небольшое травянистое растение с зелено-белыми листьями. В ней есть что-то очень сдержано английское Теперь фиттонию можно найти в любой цветочной лавке - вот она, в специальной, уютной коробке среди других небольших растений.
Еще одну даму, удостоившуюся чести дать название целому роду растений, звали Матильда Смит, и была она в 1840-х годах рисовальщицей растений в ботаническом саду Кью. Смитинианта красива и во время цветения, и просто как декоративно-лиственное растение. Интересно, была ли Матильда Смит так же всегда очаровательна?
Если вы устали от имен и названий, следующий объект внимания позволит вам расслабиться. Ведь это - скромная традесканция, извечное украшение школьных кабинетов и больничных холлов А названо это растение в честь двух настоящих Традескантов: придворного садовника короля Карла I - Джона Традесканта-отца и Джона Традесканта-сына, тоже садовника, а затем ботаника и путешественника Ну что, удивлены?
Еще одно растение - напоминает традесканцию. Но название звучит очень уж по-испански: хойя. Тем не менее, это самое что ни на есть английское имя, потому что садовника герцога Нортумберлендского звали Томас Хой. Он жил во второй половине 18 века и был известным селекционером и садоводом.
А растение на рисунке справа, хоть родом из Латинской Америки, но названо по имени двух Мильтонов: орхидеевода лорда Фицвильяма, виконта Мильтона, и знаменитого поэта Джона Мильтона. Поэтому и называется оно - мильтония. В энциклопедии говорится, что
Мильтония − растение не для начинающих.
Что ж, прямо как стихи Мильтона. Но кто знает, кто знает...
Дома у автора - фиттония и кодиеум. А у вас, читатель?
Приложение 2
You who disbelieve in miracles and magic, you who are glued to their TV and computer screens for hours on end, read this extract from the best book about King Arthur and learn how young Arthur became king of all England
Arthur, the son of Uther Pendragon, high king of Britain, was born during a time of war and great confusion To protect the child, Uther gave him to the magician Merlyn, who secretly brought him to a knight named Ector Sir Ector raised the boy as his own When Uther died — without an heir, his subjects thought — there was much disagreement about who should be king
Then stood the realm in great jeopardy for a long while, for every lord that was mighty of men made himself strong and wanted to be king Then Merlyn went to the Archbishop of Canterbury and told him to send for all the lords and knights of the realm, that they should come to London by Christmas For Jesus, who was born on that night, would of His great mercy show by some miracle who should nghtwise be king of this realm
So at Christmas, in the greatest church of London, all the lords came to pray And there was seen in the churchyard a great square stone with an anvil of steel in the middle And stuck in the anvil was a fair sword and letters written in gold around the sword that said this:
WHOSO PULLETH OUTE THIS SWORD OF THIS STONE AND
ANVIL IS RIGHTWYS KYNGE BORNE OF ALL ENGLAND
And when they saw the writing some who wanted to be king attempted, but none could move the sword "He is not here," said the Archbishop, "who shall win the sword, but fear not that God will soon make him known " So it was ordered that every man who wanted to be king should try the sword And upon New Year's Day, a tournament was held so that all knights could joust there
And so it happened that a knight named Sir Ector rode unto the jousts, and with him rode Sir Kay, his son, and young Arthur who was his foster son And as they rode to the joust, Sir Kay noticed that he had left his sword at his father's lodging, and so he asked young Arthur to ride for it
"I will well," said Arthur, and he rode fast after the sword
And when he came home, the house was closed, for all were out to see the jousting Then was Arthur angry and said to himself, "I will ride to the churchyard and take the sword that sticks in the stone, for my brother, Sir Kay, shall not be without a sword this day"
So when he came to the churchyard, Arthur found no knights there, for they, too, were at the jousting So he took the sword by the handle and lightly and fiercely pulled it out of the stone and rode his way until he came to his brother, Sir Kay, and delivered him the sword And as soon as Sir Kay saw the sword, he knew it was the sword of the stone and so rode to his father, Sir Ector, and said, "Sir, here is the sword of the stone, therefore I must be king of this land "
When Sir Ector beheld the sword he returned to the church and made Sir Kay swear upon a Bible how he came by the sword
"Sir," said Kay, "my brother, Arthur, brought it to me."
"How got you this sword?" said Sir Ector to Arthur
"Sir, I will tell you When I came home for my brother's sword, I found nobody at home And I thought my brother, Sir Kay, should not be swordless, so 1 came here and pulled it out of the stone "
"Now" said Sir Ector to Arthur, "1 understand you must be king of this land, for never should a man have drawn out this sword but he that shall be nghtwise king Now let me see whether you can put this sword where it was and pull it out again "
So Arthur put it in the stone Then Sir Ector tried to pull out the sword and failed
"Now you try," said Sir Ector unto Sir Kay And he pulled at the sword with all his might, but it would not be
"Now shall you try," said Sir Ector to Arthur
"1 will well," said Arthur and pulled it out easily
And then Sir Ector and Sir Kay knelt down to the earth
"Alas1" said Arthur "Mine own dear father and brother, why kneel you to me?"
"No, my Lord Arthur, it is not so I was never your father nor of your blood, but now I know you are of a higher blood than I ever thought you were " And then Sir Ector told him how he had been entrusted to him by Merlyn And Arthur was very sad when he understood that Sir Ector was not his father
Then they went unto the Archbishop and told him about the sword And all the lords came there to try to take the sword, but none could take it out but Arthur Then were many lords angry and said it was a great shame to them all and to the realm to be governed by a boy of no high blood born And so they all argued and it was put off until Candlemas, when all the lords should meet again
So at Candlemas many more great lords came there to win the sword, and as at New Year's Day, Arthur pulled out the sword easily The lords were very angry, and many said to put it off until the high feast of Easter But some of these great lords were so angry that it was put off even until the feast of Pentecost
And at the feast of Pentecost all manner of men tried to pull out the sword, but none could do it but Arthur, and he pulled it out before all the lords and commons that were there Then all the commons cried at once, "We will have Arthur for our king' We will delay him no more, for we see that it is God's will that he shall be our king, and whoever holds against it, we will slay him "
And they knelt at once, both rich and poor, and asked Arthur for mercy because they had delayed him so long And Arthur forgave them and took the sword between both his hands and offered it up upon the altar to the Archbishop, who made him a knight And soon the coronation was celebrated, and Arthur was sworn unto his lords to be a true king, to stand with true justice for all the days of this life.