The Heart of Nature; or, The Quest for Natural Beauty — John Shaqi
The Heart of Nature; or, The Quest for Natural BeautyYounghusband, Francis Edward, Sir
Philosophy
The Heart of Nature; or, The Quest for Natural Beauty
Younghusband, Francis Edward, Sir
Himalaya Mountains -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Himalaya Mountains; Nature (Aesthetics)
A peculiar (in that it is of all the species the only one that is
epiphytal) but much the largest flowered species is the _R.
Dalhousiae._ It grows, like the orchids, among ferns and moss upon
the trunks of, large trees, especially oaks and magnolias, and attains
a height of 6 to 8 feet. The flowers are three to seven in a head, and
are 3 1/2 to 5 inches long and as much across the mouth, white with
an occasional tinge of rose and very fragrant. In size, colour, and
fragrance of the blossoms this is the noblest of the genus. It grows
out-of-doors in Cornwall and in the greenhouse in other parts of
England as a scraggy bush 10 to 12 feet high. _R. barbatum_ is a
tree from 40 to 60 feet high, producing flowers of a rich scarlet or
blood-colour, and sometimes puce or rich pink. It is one of the most
beautiful of the Himalayan rhododendrons, and is now very
common in England, growing freely out-of-doors. Another truly
superb plant is _R. Maddeni,_ with very handsome pure white
flowers 3 1/2 to 4 inches long and as much across the mouth. This is
now a special favourite in England. It grows in large bushes in the
open in Cornwall and is very sweet-scented. _R. virgatum_ is a
beautiful delicately white-flowered shrub. And _R. campylo-carpum_
displays masses of exquisite pale yellow bells of rarest delicacy.
Besides rhododendrons, ash, walnut, and maple become more
abundant as we ascend, and at 9,000 feet larch appears, and there are
woods of a spruce resembling the Norwegian spruce in general
appearance. Among the plants are wood-sorrel, bramble, nut, spiraea,
and various other South European and North American genera.
The climate is no longer stifling and the leeches have disappeared.
We miss many beauties of the tropical forest. But, with the
vegetation more and more resembling what we are accustomed to in
Europe, we are feeling more at home. The path winds through cool
and pleasant woods, following the varying contour of the
mountain-sides. We are no longer oppressed by the strangeness of the life
around us. At almost every turn we come across something new yet
not wholly unfamiliar. And standing out especially in our memory
of this region will be the sight of a gigantic lily rearing itself ten feet
high in the forest, and as pure in its perfect whiteness as if it had
been grown in a garden. It is the _Lilium giganteum,_ and it has
fourteen flowers on a single stalk and each 4 1/2 inches long and the
same across.
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