Postmodern Cathedrals. Cobaea scandens, Cathedral Bells or Mexican Ivy, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore
Well, if you visit Singapore you will doubtless be daunted by the great variety of modern and postmodern skyscrapers and other 'ultra' buildings. Thus too the enormous glass houses of the new Gardens by the Bay, just off the Highly Expensive Marina Sands area of town.
In one of those glass houses, Cobaea scandens, Mexican Ivy or Cathedral Bells, is used as a colorful twiner along the paths and walkways. It's not hard to understand why. This marvellously versatile plant is almost 'animal-like' in its desire to curl and to crawl and to creep, and it does so very efficiently and quickly.
Indeed, great Charles Darwin, generally known especially for his work on animals, in his highly interesting Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants (1875) gives a special place to our Cobaea. Note by the way the animalimorphic title of his work...
Darwin waxes eloquent on the twining ways of this vine; if you read his account you may be forgiven for thinking that Darwin's writing about an animal.
That astute Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles (1745-1804) named Cobaea after one of his heroes, father Bernabé Cobo (1582-1657). Cobo was a Jesuit priest who worked his entire life in South America and wrote many accounts, too, of the natural history of that continent, including the history and customs of its peoples, such as the Incas. A cathedral of a work! Sadly, much of his writings has been lost. But his memory and the versatility of his investigations is served by Cavanilles' scientific name for this plant.
Postmodern Cathedrals. Cobaea scandens, Cathedral Bells or Mexican Ivy, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore
Well, if you visit Singapore you will doubtless be daunted by the great variety of modern and postmodern skyscrapers and other 'ultra' buildings. Thus too the enormous glass houses of the new Gardens by the Bay, just off the Highly Expensive Marina Sands area of town.
In one of those glass houses, Cobaea scandens, Mexican Ivy or Cathedral Bells, is used as a colorful twiner along the paths and walkways. It's not hard to understand why. This marvellously versatile plant is almost 'animal-like' in its desire to curl and to crawl and to creep, and it does so very efficiently and quickly.
Indeed, great Charles Darwin, generally known especially for his work on animals, in his highly interesting Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants (1875) gives a special place to our Cobaea. Note by the way the animalimorphic title of his work...
Darwin waxes eloquent on the twining ways of this vine; if you read his account you may be forgiven for thinking that Darwin's writing about an animal.
That astute Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles (1745-1804) named Cobaea after one of his heroes, father Bernabé Cobo (1582-1657). Cobo was a Jesuit priest who worked his entire life in South America and wrote many accounts, too, of the natural history of that continent, including the history and customs of its peoples, such as the Incas. A cathedral of a work! Sadly, much of his writings has been lost. But his memory and the versatility of his investigations is served by Cavanilles' scientific name for this plant.