Sweet Fragrance of Spring
by Jenny Rainbow
Title
Sweet Fragrance of Spring
Artist
Jenny Rainbow
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Sweet Fragrance of Spring by Jenny Rainbow.
The genus Philadelphus is native to a large swath of land across both North America and Eurasia, stretching, intermittently, from Italy through the Caucasus and Himalayas into China and Siberia and across the sea to Japan. Then it occurs again, on the other side of the Pacific, all the way from Northern California north into British Columbia, east to the Atlantic, and down into Central America. Many of the cultivated species (and their named cultivars) have their origins in China; many more can be found from the deserts of the American West down through the mountains of Mexico, where the genus is outstandingly variable. In isolated, scattered wet places in the Southwest and Mexico, Philadelphus flowers and leaves vary enormously in size; the typically white petals can be centrally marked with purple in some plants.
The botanical name of the genus was chosen by Linnaeus, himself, and is but indirectly related to the name of Pennsylvania’s largest city. Linnaeus was, no doubt, aware of the fragrance of the European Philadelphus coronarius. Fragrance surely prompted him in his selection of the name, but he did not record the precise reasons for his choice. The reference could well be to Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Macedonian king of Egypt. Incense was important in Alexandria, where he decreed the establishment of the great library that housed, in particular, the works of Aristotle.
The sensuous fragrance of Philadelphus coronarius could, as well, have led Linnaeus directly to philadelphus, a word in the Greek vocabulary that has meanings too extreme for some.
Showing up beautifully against this backdrop are several- to many-flowered clusters of pure white, usually four-petaled blossoms, which are further decorated by dense central brushes of yellow stamens. The individual flowers measure about an inch, occasionally almost two inches, across and fill the air around them with a delightfully fresh, fruity fragrance.
Source: www.pacifichorticulture.org
Uploaded
June 7th, 2017
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