Flesh and Blood. Erica carnea, Winter Heath, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Today is the baptismal date of the great English writer Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), and coming upon this Winter or Flesh Heath my mind wandered to his fascinating Doctor Faustus in which the protagonist sells his soul to the Devil. Of course that theme was re-iterated perhaps more famously by Goethe's Faust of 1808. But I especially like Marlowe. Read the doctor's oath so that he might procure the favors of Mephistopheles during the remainder of his lifetime:
"I, John Faustus of Wittenberg, Doctor, by these presents, do
give both body and soul to Lucifer, Prince of the East, and
his minister Mephistophilis, and furthermore grant unto them
that four and twenty years being expired, and these articles
written being inviolate, full power to fetch or carry the
said John Faustus' body and soul, flesh, blood, into their habitation wheresoever.
By me John Faustus."
Chilling as this oath is, it fits well with today's wet and dreary still-winter weather in which flourishes this Winter Heath, called 'carnea' for its bloody flesh-like colors.
In the Garden it's still labeled as Erica herbacea which is indeed a synonym. But the IBC - International Botanical Congress - of 1999 has stated its preference for 'carnea', so that name has the prerogative.
Flesh and Blood. Erica carnea, Winter Heath, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Today is the baptismal date of the great English writer Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), and coming upon this Winter or Flesh Heath my mind wandered to his fascinating Doctor Faustus in which the protagonist sells his soul to the Devil. Of course that theme was re-iterated perhaps more famously by Goethe's Faust of 1808. But I especially like Marlowe. Read the doctor's oath so that he might procure the favors of Mephistopheles during the remainder of his lifetime:
"I, John Faustus of Wittenberg, Doctor, by these presents, do
give both body and soul to Lucifer, Prince of the East, and
his minister Mephistophilis, and furthermore grant unto them
that four and twenty years being expired, and these articles
written being inviolate, full power to fetch or carry the
said John Faustus' body and soul, flesh, blood, into their habitation wheresoever.
By me John Faustus."
Chilling as this oath is, it fits well with today's wet and dreary still-winter weather in which flourishes this Winter Heath, called 'carnea' for its bloody flesh-like colors.
In the Garden it's still labeled as Erica herbacea which is indeed a synonym. But the IBC - International Botanical Congress - of 1999 has stated its preference for 'carnea', so that name has the prerogative.