Spanish postcard by JOCABA, no. 3569. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Two Years Before the Mast (John Farrow, 1946).

 

Alan Ladd (1913-1964) had his big break as a killer in the film noir This Gun For Hire (1942). Throughout the 1940s, his tough-guy roles packed audiences, but he is best known for his title role in the classic Western Shane (1953)

 

Alan Walbridge Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA in 1913. His mother, Ina Raleigh. had emigrated from England at age 19, and his accountant father, Alan Ladd, died when his son was only four. At age five, Alan burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter. Alan was malnourished, undersized and nicknamed 'Tiny', and the family moved to California. Alan picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married his friend Midge in 1936, but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937, they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son, Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them, her agonizing suicide from ant poison witnessed a few months later by her son. For a short time, Ladd was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. His size and blond hair were regarded by Universal as not right for movies, so he worked hard at radio. There talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. He appeared in a string of bit parts in B-pictures - and an unbilled part as a newspaper reporter in Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane (1941). Late in 1941, he got his big break when he tested for This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942) based on the novel by Graham Greene. His fourth-billed role as psychotic hitman Raven made him a star.

 

Alan Ladd and his co-star in This Gun for Hire, Veronica Lake, made seven films together. These included The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler, 1942), The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall 1946), and Saigon (Leslie Fenton, 1948). Ladd was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia. His cool, unsmiling tough-guys proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was one of the top box office stars of the decade. In an adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949), Ladd had the featured role of Jay Gatsby. Four years later he appeared in what many regard as his greatest role, Shane (George Stevens, 1953). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. From then on he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films . By the end of the 1950s liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In 1963 Ladd's career looked set to make a comeback when he filmed a supporting role in The Carpetbaggers (Edward Dmytryk, 1964), which became one of the most popular films of the year. He would not live to see its release. In January 1964 Alan Ladd was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives. Ladd was only 50. He was married twice. After his divorce from Marjorie Jane Harrold in 1941, he married former film actress Sue Carol in 1942. Carol was also his agent and manager. The couple had two children, Alana Ladd and David Ladd. He was the grandfather of Jordan Ladd.

 

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranunculus_acris

  

Ranunculus acris is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, and is one of the more common buttercups across Europe and temperate Eurasia. Common names include meadow buttercup,[1] tall buttercup,[2] common buttercup and giant buttercup.

  

Description

  

This species is variable in appearance across the world. It is a somewhat hairy plant that has ascending, ungrooved flowing stems bearing glossy yellow flowers about 25 mm across. There are five overlapping petals borne above five green sepals that soon turn yellow as the flower matures. It has numerous stamens inserted below the ovary. The leaves are compound, with three lobed leaflets. Unlike Ranunculus repens, the terminal leaflet is sessile. As with other members of the genus, the numerous seeds are borne as achenes. This and other buttercups contain ranunculin, which breaks down to the toxin protoanemonin, a chemical that can cause dermatitis and vomiting.

 

The rare autumn buttercup (R. aestivalis) is sometimes treated as a variety of this species.[3]

  

Distribution

  

The plant is an introduced species across much of the world. It is a naturalized species and often a weed in parts of North America,[4] but it is probably native in Alaska and Greenland.[5] In New Zealand it is a serious pasture weed costing the dairy industry hundreds of millions of dollars.[6] It has become one of the few pasture weeds that has developed a resistance to herbicides.[7]

 

In horticulture the species may be regarded as a troublesome weed, colonising lawns and paths. However, it may be a welcome feature of wildfower meadows. The double-flowered cultivar R. acris 'Flore Pleno' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[8]

  

Uses by Native Americans

  

The Abenaki smash the flowers and leaves and sniff them for headaches.[9] The Bella Coola apply a poultice of pounded roots to boils.[10] The Micmac use the leaves for headaches.[11] The Montagnais inhale the crushed leaves for headaches.[12]

 

The Cherokee use it as a poultice for abscesses, use an oral infusion for "thrash",[clarification needed] and use the juice as a sedative.[13] They also cook the leaves and eat them as greens.[13]

 

The Iroquois apply a poultice of the smashed plant to the chest for pains and for colds, take an infusion of the roots for diarrhea,[14] and apply a poultice of plant fragments with another plant to the skin for excess water in the blood.

Advertisement for a sedative marketed by Geigy, designed by Igildo Biesele, Basel 1955.

Many of them blooming now in the park. I love their smell :)

 

Viola odorata is a species of the genus Viola native to Europe and Asia, but has also been introduced to North America and Australasia. It is commonly known as Sweet Violet, English Violet, Common Violet, or Garden Violet.

The species can be found near the edges of forests or in clearings; it is also a common "uninvited guest" in shaded lawns or elsewhere in gardens. The flowers appear as early as February and last until the end of April.

Flowers and leaves of viola are made into a syrup used in alternative medicine mainly for respiratory ailments associated with congestion, coughing, and sore throat. Flowers are also edible and used as food additives for instance in salad, made into jelly, and candied for decoration. A decoction made from the root (dry herb) is used as a laxative. Tea made from the entire plant is used to treat digestive disorders and new research has detected the presence of a glycoside of salicylic acid (natural aspirin) which substantiates its use for centuries as a medicinal remedy for headache, body pains and as a sedative. As a bath additive the fresh crushed flowers are soothing to the skin and the aroma is very relaxing.

 

Polish name: fiołek wonny

Vintage postcard by IBIS, no. 55. Publicity still for Two Years Before the Mast (John Farrow, 1946).

 

Alan Ladd (1913-1964) had his big break as a killer in the film noir This Gun For Hire (1942). Throughout the 1940s, his tough-guy roles packed audiences, but he is best known for his title role in the classic Western Shane (1953).

 

Alan Walbridge Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA in 1913. His mother, Ina Raleigh. had emigrated from England at age 19, and his accountant father, Alan Ladd, died when his son was only four. At age five, Alan burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter. Alan was malnourished, undersized and nicknamed 'Tiny', and the family moved to California. Alan picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married his friend Midge in 1936, but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937, they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son, Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them, her agonizing suicide from ant poison witnessed a few months later by her son. For a short time, Ladd was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. His size and blond hair were regarded by Universal as not right for movies, so he worked hard at radio. There talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. He appeared in a string of bit parts in B-pictures - and an unbilled part as a newspaper reporter in Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane (1941). Late in 1941, he got his big break when he tested for This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942) based on the novel by Graham Greene. His fourth-billed role as psychotic hitman Raven made him a star.

 

Alan Ladd and his co-star in This Gun for Hire, Veronica Lake, made seven films together. These included The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler, 1942), The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall 1946), and Saigon (Leslie Fenton, 1948). Ladd was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia. His cool, unsmiling tough-guys proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was one of the top box office stars of the decade. In an adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949), Ladd had the featured role of Jay Gatsby. Four years later he appeared in what many regard as his greatest role, Shane (George Stevens, 1953). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. From then on he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films . By the end of the 1950s liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In 1963 Ladd's career looked set to make a comeback when he filmed a supporting role in The Carpetbaggers (Edward Dmytryk, 1964), which became one of the most popular films of the year. He would not live to see its release. In January 1964 Alan Ladd was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives. Ladd was only 50. He was married twice. After his divorce from Marjorie Jane Harrold in 1941, he married former film actress Sue Carol in 1942. Carol was also his agent and manager. The couple had two children, Alana Ladd and David Ladd. He was the grandfather of Jordan Ladd.

 

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Papaver is a genus of 70–100 species of frost-tolerant annuals, biennials, and perennials native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa and North America. It is the type genus of the poppy family, Papaveraceae.

 

Description

The flowers have two sepals that fall off as the bud opens, and four (or up to six) petals in red, pink, orange, yellow, or lilac. There are many stamens in several whorls around a compound pistil, which results from the fusion of carpels. The stigmas are visible on top of the capsule, and the number of stigmas corresponds to the number of fused carpels.

 

The ovary later develops into a dehiscing capsule, capped by the dried stigmas. The opened capsule scatters its numerous, tiny seeds as air movement shakes it, due to the long stem.

 

The typical Papaver gynoecium is superior (the flower is hypogynous) with a globular ovary. The style is characteristically absent for the type species opium poppy, and several others, although those with a style do exist. The sessile plate-like stigmata lies on top of the ovary. Pollen-receptive surfaces. The characteristic fruit type of Papaver is the unilocular capsule. The stigmatic disc rests on top of the capsule, and beneath it are dehiscent pores or valves.

 

Taxonomy

 

The factual accuracy of parts of this article (those related to this section) may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is: publications since 2006 are not taken into account. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2021)

Divided into a number of sections by Kiger (1973, 1985), the following are lectotypified with their lectotype species. Subsequent cladistic classification by Carolan et al. (2006) suggested Papaver was not monophyletic.

 

Clade 1. P. sect. Meconella, Meconopsis

Clade 2. P. sect. Carinatae, P. sect. Meconidium, P. sect. Oxytona, P. sect. Papaver, P. sect. Pilosa, P. sect. Pseudopilosa, P. cambrica, P. sect. Californicum, P. sect. Horrida and P. sect. Rhoeadium

Clade 3. P. sect. Argemonidium, Roemeria refracta

The following are lectotypified with their lectotype species:

 

P. sect. Carinatae (P. macrostomum Boiss. & Huet)

P. sect. Oxytona (P. orientale L.)

P. sect. Macrantha (P. orientale L.) - superfluous

P. sect. Calomecon (Calomecon orientale)

Phylogeny of Papaver and related genera

 

Papaver sect. Argemonidium includes four annual, half-rosette species, P. argemone, P. pavonium, P. apulum, and P. hybridum (Kadereit 1986a). Papaver apulum, P. argemone and P. pavonium occur allopatrically from the Adriatic Sea to the Himalayan range. P. hybridum is distributed widely from the Himalayas to Macaronesian Islands. These species are easily distinguished in petal and capsule characters, but are clearly closely related according to molecular analysis. Argemonidium is a sister group to all other Papaver sections, with characteristic indels. Morphological characters also support this distinction, including the presence of an apical plug in the capsules, long internodes above the basal leaf rosette, bristly capsules and polyporate pollen grains. Carolan et al. (2006) supported Kadereit et al. (1997)’s suggestions that Argemonidium and Roemeria are in fact sister taxa. They share some morphological characters that distinguish them from Papaver, including polyporate pollen grains, and long internodes superior the basal leaf rosette. Previous taxonomies of the Old World clade did include the close relationship between Argemonidium and Roemeria, nor Argemonidium’s distinctness from Papaver s.s. Carolan suggest Argemonidium be elevated to genus status, with Roemeria a sub-genus.

 

Papaver sect. Meconella is widely distributed, with populations spanning central, inner and eastern Asia, Siberia, Scandinavia, northern Greenland, Canada, the Rocky Mountains, and regions of Europe. It has been distinguished from other Papaver sections morphologically by its bristly, valvate capsules, pinnatisect leaves, pale stamen, and white, orange or yellow corolla. Older taxonomies divided Meconella into two groups based on degree of leaf dissection (finely dissected leaves vs. broad leaf lobes). Kadereit (1990) and Kadereit and Sytsma (1992) regarded finely dissected leaves as a derived character, and suggested that Meconella formed a group with Argemonidium as sister to other Papaver sects. Bittkau and Kadereit (2002) demonstrated that for P. alpinum s.l. broad leaf lobes were ancestral. Carolan et al. (2006) resolved Meconopsis as sister to sect. Meconella, forming a sister clade to the rest of Papaver, excluding Argemonidium. Meconella possesses a sessile stigmatic disc, similar to the typical discs of Papaver sect. Papaver., yet differences in the disc and other morphological characters have led to suggestions that this feature may not be homologous. The results of the Carolan et al. (2006) analysis present a major problem to previous taxonomy of the genera Meconopsis, and Papaver. As several species of Meconopsis (excluding M. cambrica) and P. Meconella resolved as a monophyletic group, sister to other Papaver sects., either Meconella must be elevated to genus status, or combined with the Asian species of Meconopsis, as a subgenus of Papaver.

 

Papaver sects. Californicum and Horrida have unique geographic distributions in relation to the rest of the genus. Horrida is represented by a single species Papaver aculeatum of, an annual flower native to South Africa. The capsule is glabrous narrow, long and poricidal. The vegetative parts are covered with setae, and the growth form is a rosette with rarely branching axes, and narrowly elliptical incised leaves. P. sect. californicum, is also represented by a single annual species, of the same name. As the name implies, it is native to western North America, and is characterized by a slender, ribbed, glabrous capsule, a racemose inflorescence, yellow anthers and filaments, and valvate capsule dehiscece. Previous morphological-based taxonomies of these species have led to unreliable groupings. Horrida and Pilosa have racemose inflorescences, pale filiform filaments and long capsules with flat stigmatic discs, while P. californicum and sect. Meconidium share valvate capsule dehiscence and pale filaments, but geographically these species are distinct, and do not follow molecular evidence. Commonality among these features is therefore hypothesized to be a result of convergence. In Carolan et al.’s (2006) combined ITS, trnL-F trees, both Horrida and Californicum attach to basal nodes within the main clade Papaver. Kadereit et al. (1997) postulated that Stylomecon heterophylla arose from within Papaver and should not be relegated as a separate genus. S. heterophylla and P. californicum are both native to southwestern North America, and share habitats. They are also morphologically similar, sharing glabrous buds, bright orange corollas, and yellow anthers. Their capsules are different, with S. heterophylla possessing a distinct style that is reminiscent of those in many Meconopsis species. However, Carolan et al.’s (2006) analysis strongly supports a monophyletic group for S. heterophylla and P. californicum, sister to the core Papaver sects, with Horrida, basal to that grouping. They recommended that both sects. Californicum and Horrida be elevated to “subgenera” within Papaver. The authors reject the genus status of Stylomecon.

 

Meconopsis is composed of mostly Asian dwelling species, and a single European representative, M. cambrica. Kadereit et al. (1997) first provided evidence that this relationship is not monophyletic. Carolan et al. (2006) confirmed the separation of M. cambrica from the rest of Meconopsis. In fact, it forms a well-supported sister-group to the core sections of Papaver, excluding Argemonidium, Californicum, Horrida and Meconella.

 

The core sections of Papaver s.s. form a well-supported clade, consisting of Pseudopilosa, Pilosa, Papaver, Carinatae, Meconidium, Oxytona, and Rhoeadium. Pseudopilosa spp. have a subscapose growth habit, and their distribution includes south-western Asia, northern Africa and southern Spain. There are some leaves on the lower part of the flower axis carrying a single flower. Carolan et al.’s (2006) analysis placed Pseudopilosa as sister to the remaining Papaver s.s. sections. Pilosa is a single species, P. pilosum, found mostly in western Turkey Sects. Pilosa and Pseudopilosa are separated based on morphological and chemical differences.

 

The monophyly of Carinatae, Papaver and Rhoeadium is questionable based on current molecular evidence.[3] Papaver sect. Rhoeadium comprises seventeen annual species. Carolan et al. (2006) use three representative species, P. commutatum, P. dubium, and P. rhoeas for their genetic analysis. The geographic center of Rhoeadium’s diversity is in south-western Asia and the Aegean area. They have poricidal capsules and usually dark filaments. This section is morphologically diverse however, leading Kadereit (1989) to recognize three distinct groups. The first comprises species with tetraploid and hexaploid genomes, with long capsules. The second group contains diploid species and diverse morphologies. The third group consists of diploid species and uniform morphologies. Carolan et al. (2006) showed some incongruences between their trnL-F and ITS maximum parsimony trees, showing weak support for Kadereit's (1989) groupings. Further analyses with more species and more samples will be necessary to resolve the phylogeny at this level.

 

Papaver has traditionally been characterized by the absence of a stigma, and the presence of a sessile stigmatic disc. Carolan et al. (2006) demonstrated that several species with this trait however are closely related to taxa possessing a style e.g. S. heterophylla and P. californicum, and P. sect. Meconella and Asian Meconopsis. This evidence, in combination with morphological differences among the discs suggests convergent evolutionary pathways. Papaver has long been considered the most derived clade within Papaveroideae, due to the belief that the stigmatic disc was an apomorphous characteristic. Sections Meconella and Californicum exhibit valvate dehiscence, and their basal position within Papaver suggest this may be an ancestral form. Its presence in Meconidium, however, suggests it is also a synapomorphy within that group.

 

Note: Meconella (not to be confused with the genus Meconella) has an alpine and circumpolar arctic distribution and includes some of the most northerly-growing vascular land plants.

 

Species

There are 70–100 species, including:

 

Papaver acrochaetum

Papaver aculeatum : South African poppy

Papaver alboroseum : pale poppy

Papaver alpinum : dwarf poppy

Papaver amurense

Papaver apokrinomenon

Papaver apulum

Papaver arachnoideum

Papaver arenarium

Papaver argemone : long pricklyhead poppy, prickly poppy, pale poppy

Papaver armeniacum

Papaver atlanticum (syn. P. rupifragum var. atlanticum)

Papaver aurantiacum

Papaver belangeri

Papaver berberica

Papaver bipinnatum

Papaver bracteatum

Papaver burseri (syn. Papaver alpinum) - alpine poppy

Papaver californicum : fire poppy, western poppy

Papaver cambricum : Welsh poppy

Papaver clavatum

Papaver commutatum

Papaver croceum : ice poppy

Papaver curviscapum

Papaver cylindricum

Papaver dahlianum : Svalbard poppy

Papaver decaisnei

Papaver degenii : Pirin poppy

Papaver dubium : long-headed poppy, blindeyes

Papaver fugax

Papaver giganteum

Papaver glaucum : tulip poppy, Turkish red poppy

Papaver gorgoneum

Papaver gorodkovii : Arctic poppy

Papaver gracile :

Papaver guerlekense

Papaver hybridum : round pricklyhead poppy

Papaver kluanense : alpine poppy

Papaver lacerum

Papaver lapponicum : Lapland poppy

Papaver lasiothrix

Papaver lateritium

Papaver macounii : Macoun's poppy

Papaver mcconnellii : McConnell's poppy

Papaver miyabeanum : Japanese poppy

Papaver nudicaule : Iceland poppy, Icelandic poppy

Papaver orientale L.

Papaver paucifoliatum

Papaver persicum

Papaver pilosum :

Papaver polychaetum

Papaver postii

Papaver purpureamarginatum

Papaver pygmaeum : pigmy poppy

Papaver quintuplinervium : harebell poppy

Papaver radicatum : rooted poppy

Papaver rhoeas : common poppy, corn poppy, annual poppy, Flanders poppy, Shirley poppy

Papaver rhopalothece

Papaver rupifragum : Atlas poppy, Moroccan poppy, Spanish poppy

Papaver sendtneri : white alpine poppy

Papaver setiferum Goldblatt, syn. P. pseudo-orientale (Fedde) Medw. : Oriental poppy

Papaver setigerum : Poppy of Troy, dwarf breadseed poppy

Papaver somniferum : Opium poppy (Type species)

Papaver spicatum

Papaver strictum

Papaver stylatum

Papaver tenuifolium

Papaver triniifolium

Papaver umbonatum : Semitic poppy, Israeli poppy

Papaver walpolei : Walpole's poppy

History and uses

Poppies have been grown as ornamental plants since 5000 BC in Mesopotamia. They were found in Egyptian tombs. In Greek mythology, the poppy was associated with Demeter, goddess of fertility and agriculture. The origin of the cultural symbol was probably Minoan Crete, because a figurine known as the "poppy goddess" was found at a Minoan sanctuary in Crete.

 

In the course of history, poppies have always been attributed important medicinal properties. The stems contain a milky latex that may cause skin irritation, and the latex in the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) contains several narcotic alkaloids, including morphine and codeine. The alkaloid rhoeadine, derived from the flowers of the corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas), is used as a mild sedative. Poppy seeds are used in baking and cooking, and poppyseed oil is used in cooking and pharmaceuticals, and as a radiocontrast agent.

 

The ancient Greeks portrayed Hypnos, Nyx and Thanatos, the gods of sleep, night and death, with the symbol of the poppy. The earliest written record appeared in the eighth century BC. Early Greek accounts seem to indicate the plant was used for euthanasia; on some Greek islands, women used it in old age to shorten the time left until natural death. Hippocrates (460–377 BC) was one of the first to emphasize the medicinal uses of the poppy and outline several methods of preparation. He described poppy juice as narcotic, hypnotic, and cathartic. He also recognized the plant's uses as food, particularly the seeds. By the first century AD, Dioskorides wrote down the first poppy taxonomy. He distinguished between several different kinds, the first of which was the "cultivated" or "garden" poppies. He further distinguished two types within this category, ones with black and others with white seeds. Both had elongated capsules and the black-seeded variety was involuted. Historians speculate this variety was Papaver somniferum. Other species were in use, as well. Dioskorides named the “flowering” poppy as a type with strong hypnotic properties. This is believed to be Papaver hybridum. Finally, the “wild” poppy he described is believed to be Papaver orientale. Pliny the Elder, a Roman historian, later mentioned an “intermediate” type between the wild and cultivated poppy, likely Papaver rhoeas. He wrote about medical applications of the plant; the leaves and capsules were boiled in water to create juice, pressed and rubbed to create tablets, and the dried latex was used to form opium. These products were used in much the same way they are in many cultures today, to promote sleep and to relieve indigestion and respiratory problems.

 

A century later, Galen wrote even more extensively about the diverse applications of various poppy products. He wrote that opium was the strongest known drug for dulling the senses and for inducing sleep. He wrote about its use to treat a variety of ailments, including eye and lung inflammation.

 

The First (1839–1842) and Second Opium Wars (1856–1860) between China and Great Britain resulted from attempts by successive Chinese emperors to suppress increasing imports of opium into the country. In the first half of the 19th century, poppy seed oil was an important food crop, but large-scale production did not begin until Europe began to manufacture morphine in the mid-19th century. While 800–1000 tons of Indian opium are processed legally each year, this represents only an estimated 5% of total opium production worldwide; the majority is produced illegally. The first factory specializing in dry capsule processing was built in 1928.

 

Today, morphine and codeine are common alkaloids found in several poppy varieties, and are important drugs for much of the world. Australia, Turkey and India are the most important producers of poppy for medicinal use, while the US, the UK, France, Australia and Hungary are the largest processors. In the United States, opium is illegal, as is possession or cultivation of the flower itself. However, the law is seldom enforced when poppies are grown for culinary or ornamental use. The Opium Poppy Control Act Of 1942 led to the “Poppy Rebellion”, and a battle between California farmers and the federal government. Today, the law and its enforcement remain vague and controversial, even inciting episodes between gardeners and "the poppy police".

 

They are also sold as cut flowers in flower arrangements, especially the Iceland poppy.

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I actually miss doing the 365 thing, but since I've been slacking for so long, I'm starting a new set.

 

Maybe this time I'll get over my committment issues and stick with it.

 

And - 100 things about me you may or may not know.

 

1. I'm actually quite shy in person.

 

2. My hair's naturally a reddish brown, but it’s been chocolate brown, platinum blonde, and every shade in between.

 

3. Once it was even lime green, and yes – that was on purpose.

 

4. I started dyeing it when I was thirteen, and it’s been dyed so many times that I honestly don’t know exactly what color it is anymore.

 

5. I love old campy movies, like Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

 

6. I’m a news junkie – completely a CNN/BBC/NPR whore.

 

7. I have whole constellations of freckles.

 

8. I can’t say “Planetarium” without cracking up, and I've never been to one.

 

9. When I was a kid I made my face bleed trying to scrub my freckles off.

 

10. My middle name is in honor of my father’s mother who died from cancer when he was only 11 years old.

 

11. I don’t have a high school diploma.

 

12. But – I have a BBA, MBA, and JD.

 

13. I managed to get all three before my 24th birthday.

 

14. I've passed two bars now on my first try.

 

15. I’m going to eventually get a GED.

 

16. About five years ago I developed an extreme phobia to sharks.

 

17. I'm also afraid of drowning.

 

18. I’m incredibly accident prone – and I bruise easily. It's really best not to let me be around sharp objects.

 

19. Roses - but deep yellows with red blushed tips, lilies, irises, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, orchids, bluebonnets and buttercups are my favorite flowers.

 

20. I’m notorious for starting craft projects and never finishing them.

 

21. I prefer Dr. Pepper to Coke – and I abhor Pepsi.

 

22. I’m addicted to coffee.

 

23. I’m an only child, but I have three half sisters and a half brother.

 

24. I haven't seen my brother since August 15, 1998. I miss him.

 

25. I love the smell of honeysuckle and watching for lightning bugs.

 

26. I have two cats, and one weighs 18 pounds and the other 22.

 

27. I had to bottle feed them when I first got them from the shelter because they didn’t know how to eat solid food - apparently I’m a good teacher.

 

28. I started wearing glasses in graduate school. Switched to contacts in law school. And switched again. Now I wear both.

 

29. My tongue is abnormally short, the lingual frenulum is attached too far toward the end of my tongue and should've been cut when I was a baby.

 

30. I have very small hands, my ring size is right about a 4 or a 4 1/2.

 

31. I am not, however a size 4 and I'm finally o.k. with that. I believe women should be curvy.

 

32. My first new car was stolen from my driveway before the first payment was even due on it.

 

33. My high school mascot was a gopher. Yep. A blue gopher.

 

34. I got an A in my graduate accounting class without ever getting a single problem completely correct.

 

35. I love fireworks, and nearly lost my hearing in my right ear when a firework blew up in my hand at 15.

 

36. I pierced my own belly button when I was 14. It made a puffy scar.

 

37. When I was 14, I also carved three initials into my inner ankle with the tip of a protractor.

 

38. I have a tattoo on my left hip.

 

39. I love going to look at Christmas lights.

 

40. The first time I saw real snow was in Arizona.

 

41. I get obnoxiously loud hiccups almost daily.

 

42. I have an amazing sense of smell, and remember times, places and people by their scent.

 

43. I have an annoying habit of chewing on ice.

 

44. I’m amazingly good at trivial pursuit. Except the sports questions. If it's not about hockey, I'm pretty worthless.

 

45. My mother was convinced that I would grow up to be an arsonist, as I'd torch all my toys in my easy bake oven.

 

46. I still love to color in coloring books.

 

47. I still have the first book I ever read – “Tip”.

 

48. I’ve willingly eaten rattlesnake. And yes, it tastes like chicken. Rubbery – but still chicken. I've also willingly eaten rabbit, shark, squid, octupus and alligator.

 

49. I have been in beauty pageants, and yes, I used aqua net hairspray and put vaseline on my teeth. I still consider myself to be a feminist.

 

50. I’ve only mowed a yard one time. I don’t even know how to start a lawn mower. I've changed my own oil in my old truck before.

 

51. I eat mustard with my french fries, which I like a little burned and soggy. I hate ketchup.

 

52. I firmly believe that “well done” meat is sacrilegious. If I wanted to eat a hockey puck, I would.

 

53. I love going fishing, and have helped butcher a deer - but I could never go hunting. The only thing that I've ever shot and killed was an armadillo when I was 16. I still feel bad about it.

 

54. Thunderstorms scare me, but not hurricanes.

 

55. I already have laugh lines.

 

56. I’d say I am a horrible procrastinator – but I can do that later.

 

57. It’s possible for me to get sunburned just driving to work.

 

58. My childhood nickname is Woody.

 

59. I know what government cheese tastes like.

 

60. I’m allergic to bee stings.

 

61. I love dark bitter beer, dark chocolate, but like my coffee milky and sweet.

 

62. My toenails are ALWAYS painted, but never blue, green, purple, etc. My fingernails are almost never painted - and if they are - it's just clear.

 

63. I have a temperature tolerance zone of about 5 degrees.

 

64. I used to have about 180 pairs of shoes.

 

65. I was offered a college scholarship through ROTC to be in military intelligence. I declined, and got a scholarship through a beauty pageant instead.

 

66. I'm a wicked shot with a rifle (best in the corps) but I hate guns.

 

67. I really like pink grapefruit jelly belly candy.

 

68. I love the smell of wisteria, ripe peaches, and fresh baked bread.

 

69. Rubies are my birthstone and my least favorite gem.

 

70. Red is perhaps my favorite color, but I like blue and green a lot.

 

71. My favorite colors in the crayon box were midnight blue and indian red. Not exactly p.c., eh?

 

72. I had to use Crayola® crayons or my hands broke out into a painful rash.

 

73. I’ve had brain surgery.

 

74. I’ve been in a drug induced coma.

 

75. Both happened before I was three months old.

 

76. #74 happened when a nurse overdosed me on sedatives meant for my mother to calm her down after #73.

 

77. The doctors tried to convince my parents to take me off the ventilators because they felt that I would grow up severely retarded.

 

78. Terri Schiavo’s story made me want a living will. And yes, I obviously know doctors can be wrong.

 

79. I wanted to be a doctor, but was pretty horrible at chemistry. So bad that I failed the second semester of honors chemistry and the professor felt sorry for me and gave me a D. So I became a doctor’s best friend/worst nightmare – an attorney.

 

80. Because of the movie “Cats Eye” I was always afraid to sleep with my closet doors open at night.

 

81. Favorite quote: “Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.”

 

82. I believe in Christian family values, which includes the values that all people, regardless of sexual orientation should be able to marry and raise a family.

 

83. I jello wrestled in college. But no one who knew me then would believe it.

 

84. My biggest fear is failure.

 

85. I'm incredibly ticklish. Just thinking about being tickled makes me laugh.

 

86. I'm REALLY shy about singing in front of people, and have a very low singing voice. But I sang in church choir for years but often sang with the men because it was easier for me.

 

87. My heritage is Native American, German and Irish.

 

88. I took years of tap, ballet and jazz lessons.

 

89. I actually got pulled over once for going one mile over the speed limit.

 

90. I eat tomatoes the way other people eat apples. When I eat apples, I eat everything but the seeds.

 

91. I once broke a cello by bashing it in with my head. It’s a rather complicated story. Suffice it to say that it was my cello, and was a very expensive accident. I don't play any longer, and I'm not sure I could even read music anymore.

 

92. I often talk in my sleep – with my eyes open. I used to sleep walk.

 

93. I've had chicken pox about six times.

 

94. I abhor people who smack when they eat. It drives me insane.

 

95. I bought a truck when I was 19 that was a standard without having a clue how to drive it. I learned. Quickly. Though I did get out at a stop light and kick it one time when I stalled it.

 

96. I love gourmet food, but every once in a while, only mac & cheese will do.

 

97. I always wanted to be a trapeze artist in the circus. My brother Michael and I would make trial tightrope runs on my Granny's clothesline after watching circus of the stars. I’m still amazed we didn’t die.

 

98. I have three dimples when I really smile.

 

99. I have a hard time sleeping if the sheets aren’t cold, and will often wake up in the middle of the night to flip the pillow so I can sleep on the "cold" side

 

100. I still have hope.

 

French postcard by Europe, no. 1121. Photo: MGM.

 

Marion Davies (1897-1961) was one of the great comedic actresses of the silent era. She starred in nearly four dozen films between 1917 and 1937.

 

Marion Davies was born Marion Cecelia Douras in the borough of Brooklyn, New York in 1897. She had been bitten by the show biz bug early as she watched her sisters perform in local stage productions. She wanted to do the same. As Marion got older, she tried out for various school plays and did fairly well. Once her formal education had ended, Marion began her career as a chorus girl in New York City, first in the Pony Follies and eventually in the famous Ziegfeld Follies. Her stage name came when she and her family passed the Davies Insurance Building. One of her sisters called out "Davies!!! That shall be my stage name," and the whole family took on that name. Marion wanted more than to dance. Acting, to her, was the epitome of show business and she aimed her sights in that direction. She had met newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and went to live with him at his San Simeon castle. They stayed together for over 30 years, while Hearst’s wife Millicent resided in New York. Millicent would not grant him a divorce so that he could marry Davies. San Simeon is a spectacular and elaborate mansion, which now stands as a California landmark. At San Simeon, the couple threw elaborate parties, which were frequented by all of the top names in Hollywood and other celebrities including the mayor of New York City, President Calvin Coolidge and Charles Lindbergh. When she was 20, Marion made her first film, Runaway Romany (George W. Lederer, 1917). Written by Marion and directed by her brother-in-law, the film wasn't exactly a box-office smash, but for Marion, it was a start and a stepping stone to bigger things. The following year Marion starred in The Burden of Proof (John G. Adolfi, Julius Steger, 1918) and Cecilia of the Pink Roses (Julius Steger, 1918). The latter film was backed by newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst, with whom Marion would continue a long-term romantic relationship for the next 30 years. Because of Hearst's newspaper empire, Marion would be promoted as no actress before her. She appeared in numerous films over the next few years, including the superior comedy Getting Mary Married (Allan Dwan, 1919) with Norman Kerry, the suspenseful The Cinema Murder (George D. Baker, 1919) and the drama The Restless Sex (Leon D'Usseau, Robert Z. Leonard, 1920) with Carlyle Blackwell.

 

In 1922, Marion Davies appeared as Mary Tudor in the historical romantic epic, When Knighthood Was in Flower (Robert G. Vignola, 1922). It was a film into which Hearst poured millions of dollars as a showcase for her. Although Marion didn't normally appear in period pieces, she turned in a wonderful performance and the film became a box office hit. Marion remained busy, one of the staples in movie houses around the country. At the end of the twenties, it was obvious that sound films were about to replace the silent films. Marion was nervous because she had a stutter when she became excited and worried she wouldn't make a successful transition to the new medium, but she was a true professional who had no problem with the change. Time after time, film after film, Marion turned in masterful performances. Her best films were the comedies The Patsy (1928) also with Marie Dressler, and Show People (1929) with William Haines, both directed by King Vidor. In 1930, two of her better films were Not So Dumb (King Vidor, 1930) and The Florodora Girl (Harry Beaumont, 1930), with Lawrence Grant. By the early 1930s, Marion had lost her box office appeal and the downward slide began. Hearst tried to push MGM executives to hire Marion for the role of Elizabeth Barrett in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (Sidney Franklin, 1934). Louis B. Mayer had other ideas and hired producer Irving Thalberg's wife Norma Shearer instead. Hearst reacted by pulling his newspaper support for MGM without much impact. By the late 1930s Hearst was suffering financial reversals and it was Marion who bailed him out by selling off $1 million of her jewelry. Hearst's financial problems also spelled the end to her career. Although she had made the transition to sound, other stars fared better and her roles became fewer and further between. In 1937, a 40 year old Marion filmed her last movie, Ever Since Eve (Lloyd Bacon, 1937) with Robert Montgomery. Out of films and with the intense pressures of her relationship with Hearst, Marion turned to more and more to alcohol. Despite those problems, Marion was a very sharp and savvy business woman. When Hearst lay dying in 1951 at age 88, Davies was given a sedative by his lawyer. When she awoke several hours later, she discovered that Hearst had passed away and that his associates had removed his body as well as all his belongings and any trace that he had lived there with her. His family had a big formal funeral for him in San Francisco, from which she was banned. Later, Marion married for the first time at the age of 54, to Horace Brown. The union would last until she died of cancer in 1961 in Los Angeles, California. She was 64 years old. Upon Marion’s niece Patricia Van Cleve Lake's death, it was revealed she had been the love child of Davies and Hearst. The love affair of Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst was mirrored in the films Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941), RKO 281 (Benjamin Ross, 1999), and The Cat's Meow (Peter Bogdanovich, 2001). In Citizen Kane (1941), the title character's second wife (played by Dorothy Comingore—an untalented singer whom he tries to promote—was widely assumed to be based on Davies. But many commentators, including Citizen Kane writer/director Orson Welles himself, have defended Davies' record as a gifted actress, to whom Hearst's patronage did more harm than good.

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Folkloric

· Unripe fruit used for dysentery.

· Ripe fruit is antiscorbutic.

· Seeds and green fruit are astringent.

· Flowers are antispasmodic.

· Infusion of leaves used as sudorific, antispasmodic and emetic.

· In some cultures, the fruits and leaves are used for tranquilizing and sedative properties.

· Juice of ripe fruit used as diuretic and for hematuria and urethritis.

· Flesh of soursop used as poultice to draw out chiggers.

·Decoction of leaves used of head lice and bedbugs.

· Pulverized seeds and seed oil effective for head lice.

· Fruit used as a bait in fish traps.

· Decoction of leaves used as compresses for inflammation and swollen feet.

· Poultice of mashed leaves and sap of young leaves used for eczema and skin eruptions.

· Flowers used to alleviate catarrh.

· Used as tonic by Chinese and Malays.

· In Mexico used as pectoral, antiscorbutic and febrifuge; seeds and green fruit used as astringent and for dysentery.

· In Yucatan juice of the fruit is used for dysentery.

· In Cameroon, leaves used for diabetes.

· In Antiles and Reunion, infusion of leaves used as sudorific.

· In the Peruvian Andes, leaf tea is used for catarrh and crushed seeds for parasitism.

· In the Peruvian Amazon, bark, roots and leaves used for diabetes, as sedative and as antispasmodic.

· In the Brazilian Amazon, the oil of leaves and unripe fruit is mixed with olive oil and used externally for neuralgic, rheumatism and arthritis pains.

 

source: stuart xchange

Primroses have a very long history of medicinal use and have been particularly employed in treating conditions involving spasms, cramps, paralysis and rheumatic pains.

 

They are, however, considered to be less effective than the related P. veris (Cowslip). The plant contains saponins, which have an expectorant effect, and salicylates which are the main ingredient of aspirin and have anodyne, anti-inflammatory and febrifuge effects.

 

The roots and the flowering herb are anodyne, antispasmodic, astringent, emetic, sedative and vermifuge.

 

An ointment has been made from the plant and used for treating skin wounds.

 

And very beautiful too (in my opinion, far prettier than the cultivated and brightly coloured varieties!).

The common English foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a handsome perennial or biennial plant, whose leaves are used as a powerful medicine, both as a sedative and diuretic.

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus Amanita. It is a large white-gilled, white-spotted, and usually red mushroom.

 

Despite its easily distinguishable features, A. muscaria is a fungus with several known variations, or subspecies. These subspecies are slightly different, some having yellow or white caps, but are all usually called fly agarics, most often recognizable by their notable white spots. Recent DNA fungi research, however, has shown that some mushrooms called 'fly agaric' are in fact unique species, such as A. persicina (the peach-colored fly agaric).

 

Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, A. muscaria has been unintentionally introduced to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine and birch plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees.

 

Although poisonous, death due to poisoning from A. muscaria ingestion is quite rare. Parboiling twice with water draining weakens its toxicity and breaks down the mushroom's psychoactive substances; it is eaten in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. All A. muscaria varieties, but in particular A. muscaria var. muscaria, are noted for their hallucinogenic properties, with the main psychoactive constituents being muscimol and its neurotoxic precursor ibotenic acid. A local variety of the mushroom was used as an intoxicant and entheogen by the indigenous peoples of Siberia.

 

Arguably the most iconic toadstool species, the fly agaric is one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture, including in video games—for example, the frequent use of a recognizable A. muscaria in the Mario franchise (e.g. its Super Mushroom power-up)—and television—for example, the houses in The Smurfs franchise. There have been cases of children admitted to hospitals after consuming this poisonous mushroom; the children may have been attracted to it because of its pop-culture associations.

 

Taxonomy

The name of the mushroom in many European languages is thought to derive from its use as an insecticide when sprinkled in milk. This practice has been recorded from Germanic- and Slavic-speaking parts of Europe, as well as the Vosges region and pockets elsewhere in France, and Romania. Albertus Magnus was the first to record it in his work De vegetabilibus some time before 1256, commenting vocatur fungus muscarum, eo quod in lacte pulverizatus interficit muscas, "it is called the fly mushroom because it is powdered in milk to kill flies."

 

The 16th-century Flemish botanist Carolus Clusius traced the practice of sprinkling it into milk to Frankfurt in Germany, while Carl Linnaeus, the "father of taxonomy", reported it from Småland in southern Sweden, where he had lived as a child. He described it in volume two of his Species Plantarum in 1753, giving it the name Agaricus muscarius, the specific epithet deriving from Latin musca meaning "fly". It gained its current name in 1783, when placed in the genus Amanita by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a name sanctioned in 1821 by the "father of mycology", Swedish naturalist Elias Magnus Fries. The starting date for all the mycota had been set by general agreement as January 1, 1821, the date of Fries's work, and so the full name was then Amanita muscaria (L.:Fr.) Hook. The 1987 edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature changed the rules on the starting date and primary work for names of fungi, and names can now be considered valid as far back as May 1, 1753, the date of publication of Linnaeus's work. Hence, Linnaeus and Lamarck are now taken as the namers of Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam..

 

The English mycologist John Ramsbottom reported that Amanita muscaria was used for getting rid of bugs in England and Sweden, and bug agaric was an old alternative name for the species. French mycologist Pierre Bulliard reported having tried without success to replicate its fly-killing properties in his work Histoire des plantes vénéneuses et suspectes de la France (1784), and proposed a new binomial name Agaricus pseudo-aurantiacus because of this. One compound isolated from the fungus is 1,3-diolein (1,3-di(cis-9-octadecenoyl)glycerol), which attracts insects. It has been hypothesised that the flies intentionally seek out the fly agaric for its intoxicating properties. An alternative derivation proposes that the term fly- refers not to insects as such but rather the delirium resulting from consumption of the fungus. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person's head and cause mental illness. Several regional names appear to be linked with this connotation, meaning the "mad" or "fool's" version of the highly regarded edible mushroom Amanita caesarea. Hence there is oriol foll "mad oriol" in Catalan, mujolo folo from Toulouse, concourlo fouolo from the Aveyron department in Southern France, ovolo matto from Trentino in Italy. A local dialect name in Fribourg in Switzerland is tsapi de diablhou, which translates as "Devil's hat".

 

Classification

Amanita muscaria is the type species of the genus. By extension, it is also the type species of Amanita subgenus Amanita, as well as section Amanita within this subgenus. Amanita subgenus Amanita includes all Amanita with inamyloid spores. Amanita section Amanita includes the species with patchy universal veil remnants, including a volva that is reduced to a series of concentric rings, and the veil remnants on the cap to a series of patches or warts. Most species in this group also have a bulbous base. Amanita section Amanita consists of A. muscaria and its close relatives, including A. pantherina (the panther cap), A. gemmata, A. farinosa, and A. xanthocephala. Modern fungal taxonomists have classified Amanita muscaria and its allies this way based on gross morphology and spore inamyloidy. Two recent molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed this classification as natural.

 

Description

A large, conspicuous mushroom, Amanita muscaria is generally common and numerous where it grows, and is often found in groups with basidiocarps in all stages of development. Fly agaric fruiting bodies emerge from the soil looking like white eggs. After emerging from the ground, the cap is covered with numerous small white to yellow pyramid-shaped warts. These are remnants of the universal veil, a membrane that encloses the entire mushroom when it is still very young. Dissecting the mushroom at this stage reveals a characteristic yellowish layer of skin under the veil, which helps identification. As the fungus grows, the red colour appears through the broken veil and the warts become less prominent; they do not change in size, but are reduced relative to the expanding skin area. The cap changes from globose to hemispherical, and finally to plate-like and flat in mature specimens. Fully grown, the bright red cap is usually around 8–20 centimetres (3–8 inches) in diameter, although larger specimens have been found. The red colour may fade after rain and in older mushrooms.

 

The free gills are white, as is the spore print. The oval spores measure 9–13 by 6.5–9 μm; they do not turn blue with the application of iodine. The stipe is white, 5–20 cm (2–8 in) high by 1–2 cm (1⁄2–1 in) wide, and has the slightly brittle, fibrous texture typical of many large mushrooms. At the base is a bulb that bears universal veil remnants in the form of two to four distinct rings or ruffs. Between the basal universal veil remnants and gills are remnants of the partial veil (which covers the gills during development) in the form of a white ring. It can be quite wide and flaccid with age. There is generally no associated smell other than a mild earthiness.

 

Although very distinctive in appearance, the fly agaric has been mistaken for other yellow to red mushroom species in the Americas, such as Armillaria cf. mellea and the edible A. basii—a Mexican species similar to A. caesarea of Europe. Poison control centres in the U.S. and Canada have become aware that amarill (Spanish for 'yellow') is a common name for the A. caesarea-like species in Mexico. A. caesarea is distinguished by its entirely orange to red cap, which lacks the numerous white warty spots of the fly agaric (though these sometimes wash away during heavy rain). Furthermore, the stem, gills and ring of A. caesarea are bright yellow, not white. The volva is a distinct white bag, not broken into scales. In Australia, the introduced fly agaric may be confused with the native vermilion grisette (Amanita xanthocephala), which grows in association with eucalypts. The latter species generally lacks the white warts of A. muscaria and bears no ring. Additionally, immature button forms resemble puffballs.

 

Controversy

Amanita muscaria var. formosa is now a synonym for Amanita muscaria var. guessowii.

Amanita muscaria varies considerably in its morphology, and many authorities recognize several subspecies or varieties within the species. In The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy, German mycologist Rolf Singer listed three subspecies, though without description: A. muscaria ssp. muscaria, A. muscaria ssp. americana, and A. muscaria ssp. flavivolvata.

 

However, a 2006 molecular phylogenetic study of different regional populations of A. muscaria by mycologist József Geml and colleagues found three distinct clades within this species representing, roughly, Eurasian, Eurasian "subalpine", and North American populations. Specimens belonging to all three clades have been found in Alaska; this has led to the hypothesis that this was the centre of diversification for this species. The study also looked at four named varieties of the species: var. alba, var. flavivolvata, var. formosa (including var. guessowii), and var. regalis from both areas. All four varieties were found within both the Eurasian and North American clades, evidence that these morphological forms are polymorphisms rather than distinct subspecies or varieties. Further molecular study by Geml and colleagues published in 2008 show that these three genetic groups, plus a fourth associated with oak–hickory–pine forest in the southeastern United States and two more on Santa Cruz Island in California, are delineated from each other enough genetically to be considered separate species. Thus A. muscaria as it stands currently is, evidently, a species complex. The complex also includes at least three other closely related taxa that are currently regarded as species: A. breckonii is a buff-capped mushroom associated with conifers from the Pacific Northwest, and the brown-capped A. gioiosa and A. heterochroma from the Mediterranean Basin and from Sardinia respectively. Both of these last two are found with Eucalyptus and Cistus trees, and it is unclear whether they are native or introduced from Australia.

 

Distribution and habitat

A. muscaria is a cosmopolitan mushroom, native to conifer and deciduous woodlands throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including higher elevations of warmer latitudes in regions such as Hindu Kush, the Mediterranean and also Central America. A recent molecular study proposes that it had an ancestral origin in the Siberian–Beringian region in the Tertiary period, before radiating outwards across Asia, Europe and North America. The season for fruiting varies in different climates: fruiting occurs in summer and autumn across most of North America, but later in autumn and early winter on the Pacific coast. This species is often found in similar locations to Boletus edulis, and may appear in fairy rings. Conveyed with pine seedlings, it has been widely transported into the southern hemisphere, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America, where it can be found in the Brazilian states of Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul.

 

Ectomycorrhizal, A. muscaria forms symbiotic relationships with many trees, including pine, oak, spruce, fir, birch, and cedar. Commonly seen under introduced trees, A. muscaria is the fungal equivalent of a weed in New Zealand, Tasmania and Victoria, forming new associations with southern beech (Nothofagus). The species is also invading a rainforest in Australia, where it may be displacing the native species. It appears to be spreading northwards, with recent reports placing it near Port Macquarie on the New South Wales north coast. It was recorded under silver birch (Betula pendula) in Manjimup, Western Australia in 2010. Although it has apparently not spread to eucalypts in Australia, it has been recorded associating with them in Portugal. Commonly found throughout the great Southern region of western Australia, it is regularly found growing on Pinus radiata.

 

Toxicity

a tall red mushroom with a few white spots on the cap

Mature. The white spots may wash off with heavy rainfall.

A. muscaria poisoning has occurred in young children and in people who ingested the mushrooms for a hallucinogenic experience, or who confused it with an edible species.

 

A. muscaria contains several biologically active agents, at least one of which, muscimol, is known to be psychoactive. Ibotenic acid, a neurotoxin, serves as a prodrug to muscimol, with a small amount likely converting to muscimol after ingestion. An active dose in adults is approximately 6 mg muscimol or 30 to 60 mg ibotenic acid; this is typically about the amount found in one cap of Amanita muscaria. The amount and ratio of chemical compounds per mushroom varies widely from region to region and season to season, which can further confuse the issue. Spring and summer mushrooms have been reported to contain up to 10 times more ibotenic acid and muscimol than autumn fruitings.

 

Deaths from A. muscaria have been reported in historical journal articles and newspaper reports, but with modern medical treatment, fatal poisoning from ingesting this mushroom is extremely rare. Many books list A. muscaria as deadly, but according to David Arora, this is an error that implies the mushroom is far more toxic than it is. Furthermore, The North American Mycological Association has stated that there were "no reliably documented cases of death from toxins in these mushrooms in the past 100 years".

 

The active constituents of this species are water-soluble, and boiling and then discarding the cooking water at least partly detoxifies A. muscaria. Drying may increase potency, as the process facilitates the conversion of ibotenic acid to the more potent muscimol. According to some sources, once detoxified, the mushroom becomes edible. Patrick Harding describes the Sami custom of processing the fly agaric through reindeer.

 

Pharmacology

Ibotenic acid, a prodrug to muscimol found in A. muscaria

Muscarine, discovered in 1869, was long thought to be the active hallucinogenic agent in A. muscaria. Muscarine binds with muscarinic acetylcholine receptors leading to the excitation of neurons bearing these receptors. The levels of muscarine in Amanita muscaria are minute when compared with other poisonous fungi such as Inosperma erubescens, the small white Clitocybe species C. dealbata and C. rivulosa. The level of muscarine in A. muscaria is too low to play a role in the symptoms of poisoning.

 

The major toxins involved in A. muscaria poisoning are muscimol (3-hydroxy-5-aminomethyl-1-isoxazole, an unsaturated cyclic hydroxamic acid) and the related amino acid ibotenic acid. Muscimol is the product of the decarboxylation (usually by drying) of ibotenic acid. Muscimol and ibotenic acid were discovered in the mid-20th century. Researchers in England, Japan, and Switzerland showed that the effects produced were due mainly to ibotenic acid and muscimol, not muscarine. These toxins are not distributed uniformly in the mushroom. Most are detected in the cap of the fruit, a moderate amount in the base, with the smallest amount in the stalk. Quite rapidly, between 20 and 90 minutes after ingestion, a substantial fraction of ibotenic acid is excreted unmetabolised in the urine of the consumer. Almost no muscimol is excreted when pure ibotenic acid is eaten, but muscimol is detectable in the urine after eating A. muscaria, which contains both ibotenic acid and muscimol.

 

Ibotenic acid and muscimol are structurally related to each other and to two major neurotransmitters of the central nervous system: glutamic acid and GABA respectively. Ibotenic acid and muscimol act like these neurotransmitters, muscimol being a potent GABAA agonist, while ibotenic acid is an agonist of NMDA glutamate receptors and certain metabotropic glutamate receptors which are involved in the control of neuronal activity. It is these interactions which are thought to cause the psychoactive effects found in intoxication.

 

Muscazone is another compound that has more recently been isolated from European specimens of the fly agaric. It is a product of the breakdown of ibotenic acid by ultra-violet radiation. Muscazone is of minor pharmacological activity compared with the other agents. Amanita muscaria and related species are known as effective bioaccumulators of vanadium; some species concentrate vanadium to levels of up to 400 times those typically found in plants. Vanadium is present in fruit-bodies as an organometallic compound called amavadine. The biological importance of the accumulation process is unknown.

 

Symptoms

Fly agarics are best known for the unpredictability of their effects. Depending on habitat and the amount ingested per body weight, effects can range from mild nausea and twitching to drowsiness, cholinergic crisis-like effects (low blood pressure, sweating and salivation), auditory and visual distortions, mood changes, euphoria, relaxation, ataxia, and loss of equilibrium (like with tetanus.)

 

In cases of serious poisoning the mushroom causes delirium, somewhat similar in effect to anticholinergic poisoning (such as that caused by Datura stramonium), characterised by bouts of marked agitation with confusion, hallucinations, and irritability followed by periods of central nervous system depression. Seizures and coma may also occur in severe poisonings. Symptoms typically appear after around 30 to 90 minutes and peak within three hours, but certain effects can last for several days. In the majority of cases recovery is complete within 12 to 24 hours. The effect is highly variable between individuals, with similar doses potentially causing quite different reactions. Some people suffering intoxication have exhibited headaches up to ten hours afterwards.[56] Retrograde amnesia and somnolence can result following recovery.

 

Treatment

Medical attention should be sought in cases of suspected poisoning. If the delay between ingestion and treatment is less than four hours, activated charcoal is given. Gastric lavage can be considered if the patient presents within one hour of ingestion. Inducing vomiting with syrup of ipecac is no longer recommended in any poisoning situation.

 

There is no antidote, and supportive care is the mainstay of further treatment for intoxication. Though sometimes referred to as a deliriant and while muscarine was first isolated from A. muscaria and as such is its namesake, muscimol does not have action, either as an agonist or antagonist, at the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor site, and therefore atropine or physostigmine as an antidote is not recommended. If a patient is delirious or agitated, this can usually be treated by reassurance and, if necessary, physical restraints. A benzodiazepine such as diazepam or lorazepam can be used to control combativeness, agitation, muscular overactivity, and seizures. Only small doses should be used, as they may worsen the respiratory depressant effects of muscimol. Recurrent vomiting is rare, but if present may lead to fluid and electrolyte imbalances; intravenous rehydration or electrolyte replacement may be required. Serious cases may develop loss of consciousness or coma, and may need intubation and artificial ventilation. Hemodialysis can remove the toxins, although this intervention is generally considered unnecessary. With modern medical treatment the prognosis is typically good following supportive treatment.

 

Uses

The wide range of psychoactive effects have been variously described as depressant, sedative-hypnotic, psychedelic, dissociative, or deliriant; paradoxical effects such as stimulation may occur however. Perceptual phenomena such as synesthesia, macropsia, and micropsia may occur; the latter two effects may occur either simultaneously or alternatingly, as part of Alice in Wonderland syndrome, collectively known as dysmetropsia, along with related distortions pelopsia and teleopsia. Some users report lucid dreaming under the influence of its hypnotic effects. Unlike Psilocybe cubensis, A. muscaria cannot be commercially cultivated, due to its mycorrhizal relationship with the roots of pine trees. However, following the outlawing of psilocybin mushrooms in the United Kingdom in 2006, the sale of the still legal A. muscaria began increasing.

 

Marija Gimbutas reported to R. Gordon Wasson that in remote areas of Lithuania, A. muscaria has been consumed at wedding feasts, in which mushrooms were mixed with vodka. She also reported that the Lithuanians used to export A. muscaria to the Sami in the Far North for use in shamanic rituals. The Lithuanian festivities are the only report that Wasson received of ingestion of fly agaric for religious use in Eastern Europe.

 

Siberia

A. muscaria was widely used as an entheogen by many of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. Its use was known among almost all of the Uralic-speaking peoples of western Siberia and the Paleosiberian-speaking peoples of the Russian Far East. There are only isolated reports of A. muscaria use among the Tungusic and Turkic peoples of central Siberia and it is believed that on the whole entheogenic use of A. muscaria was not practised by these peoples. In western Siberia, the use of A. muscaria was restricted to shamans, who used it as an alternative method of achieving a trance state. (Normally, Siberian shamans achieve trance by prolonged drumming and dancing.) In eastern Siberia, A. muscaria was used by both shamans and laypeople alike, and was used recreationally as well as religiously. In eastern Siberia, the shaman would take the mushrooms, and others would drink his urine. This urine, still containing psychoactive elements, may be more potent than the A. muscaria mushrooms with fewer negative effects such as sweating and twitching, suggesting that the initial user may act as a screening filter for other components in the mushroom.

 

The Koryak of eastern Siberia have a story about the fly agaric (wapaq) which enabled Big Raven to carry a whale to its home. In the story, the deity Vahiyinin ("Existence") spat onto earth, and his spittle became the wapaq, and his saliva becomes the warts. After experiencing the power of the wapaq, Raven was so exhilarated that he told it to grow forever on earth so his children, the people, could learn from it. Among the Koryaks, one report said that the poor would consume the urine of the wealthy, who could afford to buy the mushrooms. It was reported that the local reindeer would often follow an individual intoxicated by the muscimol mushroom, and if said individual were to urinate in snow the reindeer would become similarly intoxicated and the Koryak people's would use the drunken state of the reindeer to more easily rope and hunt them.

 

Other reports and theories

The Finnish historian T. I. Itkonen mentions that A. muscaria was once used among the Sámi peoples. Sorcerers in Inari would consume fly agarics with seven spots. In 1979, Said Gholam Mochtar and Hartmut Geerken published an article in which they claimed to have discovered a tradition of medicinal and recreational use of this mushroom among a Parachi-speaking group in Afghanistan. There are also unconfirmed reports of religious use of A. muscaria among two Subarctic Native American tribes. Ojibwa ethnobotanist Keewaydinoquay Peschel reported its use among her people, where it was known as miskwedo (an abbreviation of the name oshtimisk wajashkwedo (= "red-top mushroom"). This information was enthusiastically received by Wasson, although evidence from other sources was lacking. There is also one account of a Euro-American who claims to have been initiated into traditional Tlicho use of Amanita muscaria. The flying reindeer of Santa Claus, who is called Joulupukki in Finland, could symbolize the use of A. muscaria by Sámi shamans. However, Sámi scholars and the Sámi peoples themselves refute any connection between Santa Claus and Sámi history or culture.

 

"The story of Santa emerging from a Sámi shamanic tradition has a critical number of flaws," asserts Tim Frandy, assistant professor of Nordic Studies at the University of British Columbia and a member of the Sámi descendent community in North America. "The theory has been widely criticized by Sámi people as a stereotypical and problematic romanticized misreading of actual Sámi culture."

 

Vikings

The notion that Vikings used A. muscaria to produce their berserker rages was first suggested by the Swedish professor Samuel Ödmann in 1784. Ödmann based his theories on reports about the use of fly agaric among Siberian shamans. The notion has become widespread since the 19th century, but no contemporary sources mention this use or anything similar in their description of berserkers. Muscimol is generally a mild relaxant, but it can create a range of different reactions within a group of people. It is possible that it could make a person angry, or cause them to be "very jolly or sad, jump about, dance, sing or give way to great fright". Comparative analysis of symptoms have, however, since shown Hyoscyamus niger to be a better fit to the state that characterises the berserker rage.

 

Soma

See also: Botanical identity of Soma-Haoma

In 1968, R. Gordon Wasson proposed that A. muscaria was the soma talked about in the Rigveda of India, a claim which received widespread publicity and popular support at the time. He noted that descriptions of Soma omitted any description of roots, stems or seeds, which suggested a mushroom, and used the adjective hári "dazzling" or "flaming" which the author interprets as meaning red. One line described men urinating Soma; this recalled the practice of recycling urine in Siberia. Soma is mentioned as coming "from the mountains", which Wasson interpreted as the mushroom having been brought in with the Aryan migrants from the north. Indian scholars Santosh Kumar Dash and Sachinanda Padhy pointed out that both eating of mushrooms and drinking of urine were proscribed, using as a source the Manusmṛti. In 1971, Vedic scholar John Brough from Cambridge University rejected Wasson's theory and noted that the language was too vague to determine a description of Soma. In his 1976 survey, Hallucinogens and Culture, anthropologist Peter T. Furst evaluated the evidence for and against the identification of the fly agaric mushroom as the Vedic Soma, concluding cautiously in its favour. Kevin Feeney and Trent Austin compared the references in the Vedas with the filtering mechanisms in the preparation of Amanita muscaria and published findings supporting the proposal that fly-agaric mushrooms could be a likely candidate for the sacrament. Other proposed candidates include Psilocybe cubensis, Peganum harmala, and Ephedra.

 

Christianity

Philologist, archaeologist, and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar John Marco Allegro postulated that early Christian theology was derived from a fertility cult revolving around the entheogenic consumption of A. muscaria in his 1970 book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. This theory has found little support by scholars outside the field of ethnomycology. The book was widely criticized by academics and theologians, including Sir Godfrey Driver, emeritus Professor of Semitic Philology at Oxford University and Henry Chadwick, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Christian author John C. King wrote a detailed rebuttal of Allegro's theory in the 1970 book A Christian View of the Mushroom Myth; he notes that neither fly agarics nor their host trees are found in the Middle East, even though cedars and pines are found there, and highlights the tenuous nature of the links between biblical and Sumerian names coined by Allegro. He concludes that if the theory were true, the use of the mushroom must have been "the best kept secret in the world" as it was so well concealed for two thousand years.

 

Fly trap

Amanita muscaria is traditionally used for catching flies possibly due to its content of ibotenic acid and muscimol, which lead to its common name "fly agaric". Recently, an analysis of nine different methods for preparing A. muscaria for catching flies in Slovenia have shown that the release of ibotenic acid and muscimol did not depend on the solvent (milk or water) and that thermal and mechanical processing led to faster extraction of ibotenic acid and muscimol.

 

Culinary

The toxins in A. muscaria are water-soluble: parboiling A. muscaria fruit bodies can detoxify them and render them edible, although consumption of the mushroom as a food has never been widespread. The consumption of detoxified A. muscaria has been practiced in some parts of Europe (notably by Russian settlers in Siberia) since at least the 19th century, and likely earlier. The German physician and naturalist Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff wrote the earliest published account on how to detoxify this mushroom in 1823. In the late 19th century, the French physician Félix Archimède Pouchet was a populariser and advocate of A. muscaria consumption, comparing it to manioc, an important food source in tropical South America that must also be detoxified before consumption.

 

Use of this mushroom as a food source also seems to have existed in North America. A classic description of this use of A. muscaria by an African-American mushroom seller in Washington, D.C., in the late 19th century is described by American botanist Frederick Vernon Coville. In this case, the mushroom, after parboiling, and soaking in vinegar, is made into a mushroom sauce for steak. It is also consumed as a food in parts of Japan. The most well-known current use as an edible mushroom is in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. There, it is primarily salted and pickled.

 

A 2008 paper by food historian William Rubel and mycologist David Arora gives a history of consumption of A. muscaria as a food and describes detoxification methods. They advocate that Amanita muscaria be described in field guides as an edible mushroom, though accompanied by a description on how to detoxify it. The authors state that the widespread descriptions in field guides of this mushroom as poisonous is a reflection of cultural bias, as several other popular edible species, notably morels, are also toxic unless properly cooked.

 

In culture

The red-and-white spotted toadstool is a common image in many aspects of popular culture. Garden ornaments and children's picture books depicting gnomes and fairies, such as the Smurfs, often show fly agarics used as seats, or homes. Fly agarics have been featured in paintings since the Renaissance, albeit in a subtle manner. For instance, in Hieronymus Bosch's painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights, the mushroom can be seen on the left-hand panel of the work. In the Victorian era they became more visible, becoming the main topic of some fairy paintings. Two of the most famous uses of the mushroom are in the Mario franchise (specifically two of the Super Mushroom power-up items and the platforms in several stages which are based on a fly agaric), and the dancing mushroom sequence in the 1940 Disney film Fantasia.

 

An account of the journeys of Philip von Strahlenberg to Siberia and his descriptions of the use of the mukhomor there was published in English in 1736. The drinking of urine of those who had consumed the mushroom was commented on by Anglo-Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith in his widely read 1762 novel, Citizen of the World. The mushroom had been identified as the fly agaric by this time. Other authors recorded the distortions of the size of perceived objects while intoxicated by the fungus, including naturalist Mordecai Cubitt Cooke in his books The Seven Sisters of Sleep and A Plain and Easy Account of British Fungi. This observation is thought to have formed the basis of the effects of eating the mushroom in the 1865 popular story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A hallucinogenic "scarlet toadstool" from Lappland is featured as a plot element in Charles Kingsley's 1866 novel Hereward the Wake based on the medieval figure of the same name. Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novel Gravity's Rainbow describes the fungus as a "relative of the poisonous Destroying angel" and presents a detailed description of a character preparing a cookie bake mixture from harvested Amanita muscaria. Fly agaric shamanism is also explored in the 2003 novel Thursbitch by Alan Garner.

Nervine was a patent medicine tonic with sedative

effects created in 1874 by Dr Franklin Miles (1845-1929)

 

The development of safer sedatives led to the disappearance

of Nervine from American shelves by 1975.

 

-- Scientopia. Org

Having had a nice bath, and now with freshly washed clothes, Spike is settling in and relaxing in his new home here.

 

I didn't even have to give him a sedative.

Iris is a flowering plant genus of 310 accepted species with showy flowers. As well as being the scientific name, iris is also widely used as a common name for all Iris species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera. A common name for some species is flags, while the plants of the subgenus Scorpiris are widely known as junos, particularly in horticulture. It is a popular garden flower.

 

The often-segregated, monotypic genera Belamcanda (blackberry lily, I. domestica), Hermodactylus (snake's head iris, I. tuberosa), and Pardanthopsis (vesper iris, I. dichotoma) are currently included in Iris.

 

Three Iris varieties are used in the Iris flower data set outlined by Ronald Fisher in his 1936 paper The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems as an example of linear discriminant analysis.

 

Description

Irises are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering stems which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps. The bulbous species also have 2–10 narrow leaves growing from the bulb.

 

Flower

The inflorescences are in the shape of a fan and contain one or more symmetrical six-lobed flowers. These grow on a pedicel or peduncle. The three sepals, which are usually spreading or droop downwards, are referred to as "falls". They expand from their narrow base (the "claw" or "haft"), into a broader expanded portion ("limb" or "blade") and can be adorned with veining, lines or dots. In the centre of the blade, some of the rhizomatous irises have a "beard", a row of fuzzy hairs at the base of each falls petal which gives pollinators a landing place and guides them to the nectar.

 

The three, sometimes reduced, petals stand upright, partly behind the sepal bases. They are called "standards". Some smaller iris species have all six lobes pointing straight outwards, but generally limb and standards differ markedly in appearance. They are united at their base into a floral tube that lies above the ovary (This flower, with the petals, and other flower parts, above the ovary is known as an epigynous flower, and it is said to have an inferior ovary, that is an ovary below the other flower parts). The three styles divide towards the apex into petaloid branches; this is significant in pollination.

 

The iris flower is of interest as an example of the relation between flowering plants and pollinating insects. The shape of the flower and the position of the pollen-receiving and stigmatic surfaces on the outer petals form a landing-stage for a flying insect, which in probing for nectar, will first come into contact with the perianth, then with the three stigmatic stamens in one whorled surface which is borne on an ovary formed of three carpels. The shelf-like transverse projection on the inner whorled underside of the stamens is beneath the overarching style arm below the stigma, so that the insect comes in contact with its pollen-covered surface only after passing the stigma; in backing out of the flower it will come in contact only with the non-receptive lower face of the stigma. Thus, an insect bearing pollen from one flower will, in entering a second, deposit the pollen on the stigma; in backing out of a flower, the pollen which it bears will not be rubbed off on the stigma of the same flower.

 

The iris fruit is a capsule which opens up in three parts to reveal the numerous seeds within. In some species, the seeds bear an aril, such as Iris stolonifera which has light brown seeds with thick white aril.

 

Etymology

The genus takes its name from the Greek word ἶρις îris "rainbow", which is also the name for the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris. Some authors state that the name refers to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species.

 

Taxonomy

Iris is the largest genus of the family Iridaceae with up to 300 species – many of them natural hybrids.[15] Plants of the World Online lists 310 accepted species from this genus as of 2022.[1] Modern classifications, starting with Dykes (1913), have subdivided them. Dykes referred to the major subgroupings as sections. Subsequent authors such as Lawrence (1953) and Rodionenko (1987) have generally called them subgenera, while essentially retaining Dykes' groupings, using six subgenera further divided into twelve sections. Of these, section Limneris (subgenus Limneris) was further divided into sixteen series. Like some older sources, Rodionenko moved some of the bulbous subgenera (Xiphium, Scorpiris and Hermodactyloides) into separate genera (Xiphion, Juno and Iridodictyum respectively), but this has not been accepted by later writers such as Mathew (1989), although the latter kept Hermodactylus as a distinct genus, to include Hermodactylus tuberosus, now returned to Hermodactyloides as Iris tuberosa.

 

Rodionenko also reduced the number of sections in subgenus Iris, from six to two, depending on the presence (Hexapogon) or absence (Iris) of arils on the seeds, referred to as arilate or nonarilate. Taylor (1976) provides arguments for not including all arilate species in Hexapogon.

 

In general, modern classifications usually recognise six subgenera, of which five are restricted to the Old World; the sixth (subgenus Limniris) has a Holarctic distribution. The two largest subgenera are further divided into sections. The Iris subgenus has been divided into six sections; bearded irises (or pogon irises), Psammiris, Oncocyclus, Regelia, Hexapogon and Pseudoregelia. Iris subg. Limniris has been divided into 2 sections; Lophiris (or 'Evansias' or crested iris) and Limniris which was further divided into 16 series.

 

Evolution

The concept of introgressive hybridization (or "introgression") was first coined to describe the pattern of interspecific hybridization followed by backcrossing to the parentals that is common in this genus.

 

Subgeneric division

Subgenera

Iris (Bearded rhizomatous irises)

Limniris (Beardless rhizomatous irises)

Xiphium (Smooth-bulbed bulbous irises: Formerly genus Xiphion)

Nepalensis (Bulbous irises: Formerly genus Junopsis)

Scorpiris (Smooth-bulbed bulbous irises: Formerly genus Juno)

Hermodactyloides (Reticulate-bulbed bulbous irises: Formerly genus Iridodictyum)

Sections, series and species

Further information: List of Iris species

Distribution and habitat

Wild Iris in Behbahan

Wild Iris spuria in Behbahan, Iran

Wild Iris Spuria in Behbahan

Wild Iris spuria in Behbahan

Wild Iris in Mazandaran, Iran

Wild Iris in Mazandaran

Nearly all species are found in temperate Northern Hemisphere zones, from Europe to Asia and across North America. Although diverse in ecology, Iris is predominantly found in dry, semi-desert, or colder rocky mountainous areas. Other habitats include grassy slopes, meadowlands, woodland, bogs and riverbanks. Some irises like Iris setosa Pall. can tolerate damp (bogs) or dry sites (meadows), and Iris foetidissima can be found in woodland, hedge banks and scrub areas.

 

Diseases

Narcissus mosaic virus is most commonly known from Narcissus. Wylie et al., 2014, made the first identification of Narcissus mosaic virus infecting this garden plant genus, and the first record in Australia. Japanese iris necrotic ring virus also, commonly infects this genus. It was, however, unknown in Australia until Wylie et al., 2012, identified it in Australia on I. ensata.

 

Cultivation

A member of subgenus Limniris: Iris tectorum in China

Iris is extensively grown as ornamental plant in home and botanical gardens. Presby Memorial Iris Gardens in New Jersey, for example, is a living iris museum with over 10,000 plants, while in Europe the most famous iris garden is arguably the Giardino dell'Iris in Florence (Italy) which every year hosts a well attended iris breeders' competition. Irises, especially the multitude of bearded types, feature regularly in shows such as the Chelsea Flower Show.

 

For garden cultivation, iris classification differs from taxonomic classification. Garden iris are classed as either bulb iris or rhizome iris (called rhizomatous) with a number of further subdivisions. Due to a wide variety of geographic origins, and thus great genetic diversity, cultivation needs of iris vary greatly.

 

Generally, Irises grow well in most garden soil types providing they are well-drained, depending on the species. The earliest to bloom are species like I. reticulata and I. reichenbachii, which flower as early as February and March in the Northern Hemisphere, followed by the dwarf forms of I. pumila and others. In May or June, most of the tall bearded varieties start to bloom, such as the German iris and its variety florentina, sweet iris, Hungarian iris, lemon-yellow iris (I. flavescens), Iris sambucina, and their natural and horticultural hybrids such as those described under names like I. neglecta or I. squalens and best united under I. × lurida.

 

The iris is promoted in the United Kingdom by the British Iris Society. The National Collection of Arthur Bliss Irises is held in Gloucestershire.

 

The American Iris Society is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for Iris, and recognises over 30,000 registered cultivar names.

 

Bearded rhizome iris

Bearded iris are classified as dwarf, tall, or aril. In Europe, the most commonly found garden iris is a hybrid iris (falsely called German iris, I. germanica which is sterile) and its numerous cultivars. Various wild forms (including Iris aphylla) and naturally occurring hybrids of the Sweet iris (I. pallida) and the Hungarian iris (I. variegata) form the basis of almost all modern hybrid bearded irises. Median forms of bearded iris (intermediate bearded, or IB; miniature tall bearded, or MTB; etc.) are derived from crosses between tall and dwarf species like Iris pumila.

 

The "beard", short hairs arranged to look like a long furry caterpillar, is found toward the back of the lower petals and its purpose is to guide pollinating insects toward the reproductive parts of the plant. Bearded irises have been cultivated to have much larger blooms than historically; the flowers are now twice the size of those a hundred years ago. Ruffles were introduced in the 1960s to help stabilize the larger petals.

 

Bearded iris are easy to cultivate and propagate and have become very popular in gardens. A small selection is usually held by garden centres at appropriate times during the season, but there are thousands of cultivars available from specialist suppliers (more than 30,000 cultivars of tall bearded iris). They are best planted as bare root plants in late summer, in a sunny open position with the rhizome visible on the surface of the soil and facing the sun. They should be divided in summer every two or three years, when the clumps become congested.

 

A truly red bearded iris, like a truly blue rose, remains an unattained goal despite frequent hybridizing and selection. There are species and selections, most notably based on the beardless rhizomatous Copper iris (I. fulva), which have a relatively pure red color. However, getting this color into a modern bearded iris breed has proven very difficult, and thus, the vast majority of irises are in the purple and blue range of the color spectrum, with yellow, pink, orange and white breeds also available. Irises – like many related genera – lack red-based hues because their anthocyanins are delphinidin-derived. Pelargonidin-derived anthocyanins would lend the sought-after blue-based colors but these genera are metabolically disinclined to produce pelargonidin. Dihydroflavonol 4-reductases in Iris's relatives selectively do not catalyse dihydrokaempferol to leucopelargonidin, the precursor, and this is probably the case here as well. The other metabolic difficulty is the presence of flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase, which in Chrysanthemum inhibits pelargonidin synthesis. The bias in irises towards delphinidin-anthocyanins is so pronounced that they have served as the gene donors for transgenic attempts at the aforementioned blue roses. Although these have been technically successful – over 99% of their anthocyanins are blue – their growth is crippled and they have never been commercializable.

 

AGM cultivars

The following is a selection of bearded irises that have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

 

'Alizes' (tall bearded, blue & white)

'Bumblebee Deelite' (miniature tall bearded, yellow/purple)

'Early Light' (tall bearded, pale yellow)

'Jane Phillips' (tall bearded, pale blue)

'Langport Wren' (intermediate bearded, maroon)

'Maui Moonlight' (intermediate bearded, pale yellow)

'Orinoco Flow' (border bearded, white/violet)

'Raspberry Blush' (intermediate bearded, pink)

'Sarah Taylor' (dwarf bearded, pale yellow)

'Thornbird' (tall bearded, pale yellow)

'Titan's Glory' (tall bearded, deep blue)

Bearded iris Oncocyclus section

This section contains the cushion irises or royal irises, a group of plants noted for their large, strongly marked flowers. Between 30 and 60 species are classified in this section, depending on the authority. Species of section Oncocyclus are generally strict endemics, typically occurring in a small number of scattered, disjunct populations, whose geographical isolation is enhanced by their pollination strategy and myrmecochory seed dispersal. Morphological divergence between populations usually follows a cline reflecting local adaptation to environment conditions; furthermore, this largely overlaps divergence between species, making it difficult to identify discrete species boundaries in these irises. Compared with other irises, the cushion varieties are scantily furnished with narrow sickle-shaped leaves and the flowers are usually borne singly on the stalks; they are often very dark and in some almost blackish. The cushion irises are somewhat fastidious growers, and to be successful with them they must be planted rather shallow in very gritty well-drained soil. They should not be disturbed in the autumn, and after the leaves have withered the roots should be protected from heavy rains until growth starts again naturally.

 

Bearded iris Regelia section

This section, closely allied to the cushion irises, includes several garden hybrids with species in section Oncocyclus, known as Regelio-cyclus irises. They are best planted in September or October in warm sunny positions, the rhizomes being lifted the following July after the leaves have withered.

 

Beardless rhizome iris (subgenus Limniris)

There are six major subgroupings of the beardless iris, depending on origin. They are divided into Pacific Coast, Siberica, Spuria, Louisiana, Japanese, and other.

 

Beardless rhizomatous iris types commonly found in the European garden are the Siberian iris (I. sibirica) and its hybrids, and the Japanese Iris (I. ensata) and its hybrids. "Japanese iris" is also a catch-all term for the Japanese iris proper (hanashōbu), the blood iris (I. sanguinea, ayame) and the rabbit-ear iris (I. laevigata, kakitsubata). I. unguicularis is a late-winter-flowering species from Algeria, with sky-blue flowers with a yellow streak in the centre of each petal, produced from Winter to Spring. Yet another beardless rhizomatous iris popular in gardening is I. ruthenica, which has much the same requirements and characteristics as the tall bearded irises. In North America, Louisiana iris and its hybrids are often cultivated.

 

Crested rhizome iris (subgenus Limniris)

One specific species, Iris cristata from North America.

 

Bulbing juno iris (subgenus Scorpiris)

Often called 'junos', this type of iris is one of the more popular bulb irises in cultivation. They are generally earliest to bloom.

 

Bulbing European iris (subgenus Xiphium)

This group includes irises generally of European descent, and are also classified as Dutch, English, or Spanish iris.

 

Iris reticulata and Iris persica, both of which are fragrant, are also popular with florists.

Iris xiphium, the Spanish Iris (also known as Dutch Iris) and

Iris latifolia, the English Iris. Despite the common names both the Spanish and English iris are of Spanish origin, and have very showy flowers, so they are popular with gardeners and florists. They are among the hardier bulbous irises, and can be grown in northern Europe. They require to be planted in thoroughly drained beds in very light open soil, moderately enriched, and should have a rather sheltered position. Both these present a long series of varieties of the most diverse colours, flowering in May, June and July, the smaller Spanish iris being the earlier of the two.

Bulbing reticulate iris (subgenus Hermodactyloides)

Reticulate irises with their characteristic bulbs, including the yellow I. danfordiae, and the various blue-purple I. histrioides and I. reticulata, flower as early as February and March. These reticulate-bulbed irises are miniatures and popular spring bulbs, being one of the first to bloom in the garden. Many of the smaller species of bulbous iris, being liable to perish from excess of moisture, should have a well-drained bed of good but porous soil made up for them, in some sunny spot, and in winter should be protected by a covering of half-decayed leaves or fresh coco-fiber.

 

Uses

Bombay Sapphire gin contains flavoring derived from particular bearded iris species Iris germanica and Iris pallida.

Rhizomes of the German iris (I. germanica) and sweet iris (I. pallida) are traded as orris root and are used in perfume and medicine, though more common in ancient times than today. Today, Iris essential oil (absolute) from flowers are sometimes used in aromatherapy as sedative medicines. The dried rhizomes are also given whole to babies to help in teething. Gin brands such as Bombay Sapphire and Magellan Gin use orris root and sometimes iris flowers for flavor and color.

 

For orris root production, iris rhizomes are harvested, dried, and aged for up to 5 years. In this time, the fats and oils inside the roots undergo degradation and oxidation, which produces many fragrant compounds that are valuable in perfumery. The scent is said to be similar to violets. The aged rhizomes are steam-distilled which produces a thick oily compound, known in the perfume industry as "iris butter" or orris oil.

 

Iris rhizomes also contain notable amounts of terpenes, and organic acids such as ascorbic acid, myristic acid, tridecylenic acid and undecylenic acid. Iris rhizomes can be toxic. Larger blue flag (I. versicolor) and other species often grown in gardens and widely hybridized contain elevated amounts of the toxic glycoside iridin. These rhizomes can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or skin irritation, but poisonings are not normally fatal. Irises should only be used medicinally under professional guidance.

 

Water purification

Further information: Organisms involved in water purification

Further information: Waste stabilization pond

 

Flowering yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus) at a treatment pond

In water purification, yellow iris (I. pseudacorus) is often used. The roots are usually planted in a substrate (e.g. lava-stone) in a reedbed-setup. The roots then improve water quality by consuming nutrient pollutants, such as from agricultural runoff. This highly aggressive grower is now considered a noxious weed and prohibited in some states of the US where it is found clogging natural waterways.

 

In culture

The iris has been used in art and as a symbol, including in heraldry. The symbolic meaning has evolved, in Christendom moving from a symbol of Mary mother of Jesus, to a French heraldic sign, the fleur-de-lis, and from French royalty it spread throughout Europe and beyond.

 

Art

Vincent van Gogh has painted several famous pictures of irises.

 

The American artist Joseph Mason – a friend of John James Audubon – painted a precise image of what was then known as the Louisiana flag or copper iris (Iris fulva), to which Audubon subsequently added two Northern paraula birds (Parula americana) for inclusion as Plate 15 in his Birds of America.

 

The artist Philip Hermogenes Calderon painted an iris in his 1856 work Broken Vows; he followed the principles of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. An ancient belief is that the iris serves as a warning to be heeded, as it was named for the messenger of Olympus. It also conveys images of lost love and silent grief, for young girls were led into the afterlife by the goddess Iris. Broken Vows was accompanied with poetry by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow when it was first exhibited.

 

Contemporary artist George Gessert, who introduced the cultivation of flowers as an art form, has specialised in breeding irises.

 

Local varieties as symbol

Iris nigricans, the black iris is the national flower of Jordan.

 

Iris bismarckiana, the Nazareth Iris, is the symbol of the city of Upper Nazareth.

 

The Iris croatica is the unofficial national flower of Croatia.

 

A stylized yellow iris is the symbol of Brussels, since historically the important Saint Gaugericus Island was carpeted in them. The iris symbol is now the sole feature on the flag of the Brussels-Capital Region.

 

In 1998, Iris lacustris, the Dwarf Lake iris, was designated the state wildflower of Michigan, where the vast majority of populations exist.

 

In 1990, the Louisiana iris was voted the state wildflower of Louisiana (see also fleur-de-lis:United States, New France), though the state flower is the magnolia blossom.

 

An iris — species unspecified — is one of the state flowers of Tennessee. It is generally accepted that the species Iris versicolor, the Purple Iris, is the state flower alongside the wild-growing purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), the state's other floral emblem. Greeneville, Tennessee, is home to the annual Iris Festival celebrating the iris, local customs, and culture.

 

The species Iris versicolor is also the provincial flower of Quebec, Canada, having replaced the Madonna lily which is not native to the province (see also fleur-de-lis: Canada). The provincial flag of Québec carries the harlequin blueflag (I. versicolor, iris versicolore in French).

 

China

It is thought in China that Iris anguifuga has the ability to keep snakes from entering the garden. It grows all winter, keeping snakes out, but then goes dormant in the spring, allowing the snakes back into the garden. In the autumn, the iris re-appears and can stop the snakes again.

 

Ancient Greece

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the goddess Persephone and her companion nymphs (the Oceanids along with Artemis and Athena) were gathering flowers such as rose, crocus, violet, iris (also called 'agallis' or ἀγαλλίς (in Greek script), lily, larkspur, and hyacinth in a springtime meadow before she was abducted by the god Hades.

 

It has been suggested that the 'agallis' mentioned was a dwarf iris, as described by leaf and root shape) and identified as Iris attica.

 

Muslim culture

In Iran and Kashmir, Iris kashmiriana and Iris germanica are most commonly grown on Muslim grave yards.

 

Fleur-de-lis and associated heraldry

French King Clovis I (466–511), when he converted to Christianity, changed his symbol on his banner from three toads to irises (the Virgin's flower).

 

The fleur-de-lis, a stylized iris, first occurs in its modern use as the emblem of the House of Capet. The fleur-de-lis has been associated with France since Louis VII adopted it as a symbol in the 12th century. The yellow fleur-de-lis reflects the yellow iris (I. pseudacorus), common in Western Europe. Contemporary uses can be seen in the Quebec flag and the logo of the New Orleans Saints professional football team and on the flag of Saint Louis, Missouri.

 

The red fleur-de-lis in the coat-of-arms and flag of Florence, Italy, descends from the white iris which is native to Florence and which grew even in its city walls. This white iris displayed against a red background was the symbol of Florence until the Medici family reversed the colors to signal a change in political power, setting in motion a centuries-long and still on-going breeding program to hybridize a red iris.

 

Scouting, fraternities & sororities

The fleur-de-lis is the almost-universal symbol of Scouting and one of the symbols adopted by the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma.

 

The Iris versicolor is the official flower of Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity.

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 289. Photo: Paramount.

 

Alan Ladd (1913-1964) had his big break as a killer in the film noir This Gun For Hire (1942). Throughout the 1940s, his tough-guy roles packed audiences, but he is best known for his title role in the classic Western Shane (1953).

 

Alan Walbridge Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA in 1913. His mother, Ina Raleigh. had emigrated from England at age 19, and his accountant father, Alan Ladd, died when his son was only four. At age five, Alan burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter. Alan was malnourished, undersized and nicknamed 'Tiny', and the family moved to California. Alan picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married his friend Midge in 1936, but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937, they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son, Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them, her agonizing suicide from ant poison witnessed a few months later by her son. For a short time, Ladd was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. His size and blond hair were regarded by Universal as not right for movies, so he worked hard at radio. There talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. He appeared in a string of bit parts in B-pictures - and an unbilled part as a newspaper reporter in Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane (1941). Late in 1941, he got his big break when he tested for This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942) based on the novel by Graham Greene. His fourth-billed role as psychotic hitman Raven made him a star.

 

Alan Ladd and his co-star in This Gun for Hire, Veronica Lake, made seven films together. These included The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler, 1942), The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall 1946), and Saigon (Leslie Fenton, 1948). Ladd was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia. His cool, unsmiling tough-guys proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was one of the top box office stars of the decade. In an adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949), Ladd had the featured role of Jay Gatsby. Four years later he appeared in what many regard as his greatest role, Shane (George Stevens, 1953). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. From then on he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films . By the end of the 1950s liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In 1963 Ladd's career looked set to make a comeback when he filmed a supporting role in The Carpetbaggers (Edward Dmytryk, 1964), which became one of the most popular films of the year. He would not live to see its release. In January 1964 Alan Ladd was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives. Ladd was only 50. He was married twice. After his divorce from Marjorie Jane Harrold in 1941, he married former film actress Sue Carol in 1942. Carol was also his agent and manager. The couple had two children, Alana Ladd and David Ladd. He was the grandfather of Jordan Ladd.

 

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Fuzzy, warm, ripe Loquats change the route of my morning walk these days. There are three places in my area where they are fruiting. And to say the least, I love them! So I head in their direction bright and early... before hungry birds and other walkers.

 

Sweet and a bit tart. Tastes like a peach mixed with a bit of lemonade. Only ripe and ready for the next few weeks!

 

Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe in late winter or early spring.Loquats bear fruit in March and April here in South Florida.

 

The Loquat is like its distant relative, the apple, has a high sugar, acid and pectin content. It is eaten as a fresh fruit and mixes well with other fruits in fresh fruit salads or fruit cups. Firm, slightly immature fruits are best for making pies or tarts. The fruits are also commonly used to make jam, jelly, and chutney, and are often served poached in light syrup. Loquats can also be used to make light wine. Loquat syrup is used in Chinese medicine for soothing the throat like a cough drop. Eaten in quantity, Loquats have a gentle but noticeable sedative effect lasting up to 24 hours.

 

The Loquat is a fruit of Southeastern Chinese origin. It was introduced into Japan and became naturalized there in very early times, and has been cultivated there for over 1,000 years. It has also become naturalized in India, the whole Mediterranean Basin and many other areas. Chinese immigrants are presumed to have carried the Loquat to Hawaii. The Loquat was often mentioned in ancient Chinese literature, such as the poems of Li Bai. In Portuguese literature, it is mentioned since before the Age of Discovery.

 

Loquat, Eriobotrya japonica, Rosaceae, Nefles

  

“THEN” - When we had the hurricane in 2006, one of Stanley Park’s magnificent Catalpa trees was torn from the ground. The Parks Dept saved the main trunk and limbs of the tree lying on the ground for their lasting beauty - today, it’s a source of gleeful delight to children for climbing. (One end appears in the left-hand frame).

 

“NOW” - Its neighbouring Catalpas that remained standing continue to provide shade and beauty for their large, heart-shaped leaves and clusters of showy white flowers.

 

Catalpa trees grow to 12–18 metres (39–59 ft) tall and 6–12 metres (20–39 ft) wide.

 

Catalpa wood is occasionally used as a tonewood in guitars. When made into a tea the bark of the Southern catalpa tree has been used an antiseptic, supposedly used as a snake bite antidote, treatment for malaria and also for whooping cough. The flowers and pods have been used as a light sedative while the flowers have also been used for treating asthma. Also, because of the antiseptic properties of the tree, the leaves can be used as a poultice for wounds.

Uruguayan postcard by CF. Photo: Paramount.

 

Alan Ladd (1913-1964) had his big break as a killer in the film noir This Gun For Hire (1942). Throughout the 1940s, his tough-guy roles packed audiences, but he is best known for his title role in the classic Western Shane (1953).

 

Alan Walbridge Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA, in 1913. His mother, Ina Raleigh, had emigrated from England at age 19, and his accountant father, Alan Ladd, died when his son was only four. At age five, Alan burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a house painter. Alan was malnourished, undersized and nicknamed 'Tiny', and the family moved to California. Alan picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school, he discovered track and swimming. By 1931, he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married his friend Midge in 1936, but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937, they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son, Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them; her agonising suicide from ant poison was witnessed a few months later by her son. For a short time, Ladd was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. His size and blond hair were regarded by Universal as not right for movies, so he worked hard in radio. There, talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. He appeared in a string of bit parts in B-pictures - and an unbilled part as a newspaper reporter in Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane (1941). Late in 1941, he got his big break when he tested for This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942) based on the novel by Graham Greene. His fourth-billed role as psychotic hitman Raven made him a star.

 

Alan Ladd and his co-star in This Gun for Hire, Veronica Lake, made seven films together. These included The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler, 1942), The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall, 1946), and Saigon (Leslie Fenton, 1948). Ladd was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia. His cool, unsmiling tough-guys proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was one of the top box office stars of the decade. In an adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949), Ladd had the featured role of Jay Gatsby. Four years later, he appeared in what many regard as his greatest role, Shane (George Stevens, 1953). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. From then on, he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films. By the end of the 1950s, liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962, he was found unconscious, lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In 1963, Ladd's career looked set to make a comeback when he filmed a supporting role in The Carpetbaggers (Edward Dmytryk, 1964), which became one of the most popular films of the year. He would not live to see its release. In January 1964, Alan Ladd was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives. Ladd was only 50. He was married twice. After his divorce from Marjorie Jane Harrold in 1941, he married former film actress Sue Carol in 1942. Carol was also his agent and manager. The couple had two children, Alana Ladd and David Ladd. He was the grandfather of Jordan Ladd.

 

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Is highly toxic in all parts of the plant, Digoxin (Digitalin) is a drug that is extracted from Digitalis lanata. Today Digitalin is still extracted from the plant because synthetis is quite expensive and difficult. In South America the powdered leaves are used to relieve asthma, as sedatives, and as diuretics.

Ядовита. Из листьев наперстянки шерстистой получают кардиотонические препараты Дигоксин, Целанид, Лантозид

Water lilies have a long history in traditional medicine where all their parts are used. The root of the plant was used by monks and nuns for hundreds of years as an anaphrodisiac, being crushed and mixed with wine. Besides its uses as a painkiller, anti-inflammatory, astringent, cardiotonic, demulcent, with sedative and calming effects upon the nervous system, it can also be used in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, and similar disorders.

website:

www.sciencedirect.com

 

French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 97.

 

Alan Ladd (1913-1964) had his big break as a killer in the film noir This Gun For Hire (1942). Throughout the 1940s, his tough-guy roles packed audiences, but he is best known for his title role in the classic Western Shane (1953).

 

Alan Walbridge Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA in 1913. His mother, Ina Raleigh. had emigrated from England at age 19, and his accountant father, Alan Ladd, died when his son was only four. At age five, Alan burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter. Alan was malnourished, undersized and nicknamed 'Tiny', and the family moved to California. Alan picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married his friend Midge in 1936, but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937, they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son, Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them, her agonizing suicide from ant poison witnessed a few months later by her son. For a short time, Ladd was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. His size and blond hair were regarded by Universal as not right for movies, so he worked hard at radio. There talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. He appeared in a string of bit parts in B-pictures - and an unbilled part as a newspaper reporter in Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane (1941). Late in 1941, he got his big break when he tested for This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942) based on the novel by Graham Greene. His fourth-billed role as psychotic hitman Raven made him a star.

 

Alan Ladd and his co-star in This Gun for Hire, Veronica Lake, made seven films together. These included The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler, 1942), The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall 1946), and Saigon (Leslie Fenton, 1948). Ladd was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia. His cool, unsmiling tough-guys proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was one of the top box office stars of the decade. In an adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949), Ladd had the featured role of Jay Gatsby. Four years later he appeared in what many regard as his greatest role, Shane (George Stevens, 1953). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. From then on he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films . By the end of the 1950s liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In 1963 Ladd's career looked set to make a comeback when he filmed a supporting role in The Carpetbaggers (Edward Dmytryk, 1964), which became one of the most popular films of the year. He would not live to see its release. In January 1964 Alan Ladd was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives. Ladd was only 50. He was married twice. After his divorce from Marjorie Jane Harrold in 1941, he married former film actress Sue Carol in 1942. Carol was also his agent and manager. The couple had two children, Alana Ladd and David Ladd. He was the grandfather of Jordan Ladd.

 

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Iris is a flowering plant genus of 310 accepted species with showy flowers. As well as being the scientific name, iris is also widely used as a common name for all Iris species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera. A common name for some species is flags, while the plants of the subgenus Scorpiris are widely known as junos, particularly in horticulture. It is a popular garden flower.

 

The often-segregated, monotypic genera Belamcanda (blackberry lily, I. domestica), Hermodactylus (snake's head iris, I. tuberosa), and Pardanthopsis (vesper iris, I. dichotoma) are currently included in Iris.

 

Three Iris varieties are used in the Iris flower data set outlined by Ronald Fisher in his 1936 paper The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems as an example of linear discriminant analysis.

 

Description

Irises are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering stems which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps. The bulbous species also have 2–10 narrow leaves growing from the bulb.

 

Flower

The inflorescences are in the shape of a fan and contain one or more symmetrical six-lobed flowers. These grow on a pedicel or peduncle. The three sepals, which are usually spreading or droop downwards, are referred to as "falls". They expand from their narrow base (the "claw" or "haft"), into a broader expanded portion ("limb" or "blade") and can be adorned with veining, lines or dots. In the centre of the blade, some of the rhizomatous irises have a "beard", a row of fuzzy hairs at the base of each falls petal which gives pollinators a landing place and guides them to the nectar.

 

The three, sometimes reduced, petals stand upright, partly behind the sepal bases. They are called "standards". Some smaller iris species have all six lobes pointing straight outwards, but generally limb and standards differ markedly in appearance. They are united at their base into a floral tube that lies above the ovary (This flower, with the petals, and other flower parts, above the ovary is known as an epigynous flower, and it is said to have an inferior ovary, that is an ovary below the other flower parts). The three styles divide towards the apex into petaloid branches; this is significant in pollination.

 

The iris flower is of interest as an example of the relation between flowering plants and pollinating insects. The shape of the flower and the position of the pollen-receiving and stigmatic surfaces on the outer petals form a landing-stage for a flying insect, which in probing for nectar, will first come into contact with the perianth, then with the three stigmatic stamens in one whorled surface which is borne on an ovary formed of three carpels. The shelf-like transverse projection on the inner whorled underside of the stamens is beneath the overarching style arm below the stigma, so that the insect comes in contact with its pollen-covered surface only after passing the stigma; in backing out of the flower it will come in contact only with the non-receptive lower face of the stigma. Thus, an insect bearing pollen from one flower will, in entering a second, deposit the pollen on the stigma; in backing out of a flower, the pollen which it bears will not be rubbed off on the stigma of the same flower.

 

The iris fruit is a capsule which opens up in three parts to reveal the numerous seeds within. In some species, the seeds bear an aril, such as Iris stolonifera which has light brown seeds with thick white aril.

 

Etymology

The genus takes its name from the Greek word ἶρις îris "rainbow", which is also the name for the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris. Some authors state that the name refers to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species.

 

Taxonomy

Iris is the largest genus of the family Iridaceae with up to 300 species – many of them natural hybrids.[15] Plants of the World Online lists 310 accepted species from this genus as of 2022.[1] Modern classifications, starting with Dykes (1913), have subdivided them. Dykes referred to the major subgroupings as sections. Subsequent authors such as Lawrence (1953) and Rodionenko (1987) have generally called them subgenera, while essentially retaining Dykes' groupings, using six subgenera further divided into twelve sections. Of these, section Limneris (subgenus Limneris) was further divided into sixteen series. Like some older sources, Rodionenko moved some of the bulbous subgenera (Xiphium, Scorpiris and Hermodactyloides) into separate genera (Xiphion, Juno and Iridodictyum respectively), but this has not been accepted by later writers such as Mathew (1989), although the latter kept Hermodactylus as a distinct genus, to include Hermodactylus tuberosus, now returned to Hermodactyloides as Iris tuberosa.

 

Rodionenko also reduced the number of sections in subgenus Iris, from six to two, depending on the presence (Hexapogon) or absence (Iris) of arils on the seeds, referred to as arilate or nonarilate. Taylor (1976) provides arguments for not including all arilate species in Hexapogon.

 

In general, modern classifications usually recognise six subgenera, of which five are restricted to the Old World; the sixth (subgenus Limniris) has a Holarctic distribution. The two largest subgenera are further divided into sections. The Iris subgenus has been divided into six sections; bearded irises (or pogon irises), Psammiris, Oncocyclus, Regelia, Hexapogon and Pseudoregelia. Iris subg. Limniris has been divided into 2 sections; Lophiris (or 'Evansias' or crested iris) and Limniris which was further divided into 16 series.

 

Evolution

The concept of introgressive hybridization (or "introgression") was first coined to describe the pattern of interspecific hybridization followed by backcrossing to the parentals that is common in this genus.

 

Subgeneric division

Subgenera

Iris (Bearded rhizomatous irises)

Limniris (Beardless rhizomatous irises)

Xiphium (Smooth-bulbed bulbous irises: Formerly genus Xiphion)

Nepalensis (Bulbous irises: Formerly genus Junopsis)

Scorpiris (Smooth-bulbed bulbous irises: Formerly genus Juno)

Hermodactyloides (Reticulate-bulbed bulbous irises: Formerly genus Iridodictyum)

Sections, series and species

Further information: List of Iris species

Distribution and habitat

Wild Iris in Behbahan

Wild Iris spuria in Behbahan, Iran

Wild Iris Spuria in Behbahan

Wild Iris spuria in Behbahan

Wild Iris in Mazandaran, Iran

Wild Iris in Mazandaran

Nearly all species are found in temperate Northern Hemisphere zones, from Europe to Asia and across North America. Although diverse in ecology, Iris is predominantly found in dry, semi-desert, or colder rocky mountainous areas. Other habitats include grassy slopes, meadowlands, woodland, bogs and riverbanks. Some irises like Iris setosa Pall. can tolerate damp (bogs) or dry sites (meadows), and Iris foetidissima can be found in woodland, hedge banks and scrub areas.

 

Diseases

Narcissus mosaic virus is most commonly known from Narcissus. Wylie et al., 2014, made the first identification of Narcissus mosaic virus infecting this garden plant genus, and the first record in Australia. Japanese iris necrotic ring virus also, commonly infects this genus. It was, however, unknown in Australia until Wylie et al., 2012, identified it in Australia on I. ensata.

 

Cultivation

A member of subgenus Limniris: Iris tectorum in China

Iris is extensively grown as ornamental plant in home and botanical gardens. Presby Memorial Iris Gardens in New Jersey, for example, is a living iris museum with over 10,000 plants, while in Europe the most famous iris garden is arguably the Giardino dell'Iris in Florence (Italy) which every year hosts a well attended iris breeders' competition. Irises, especially the multitude of bearded types, feature regularly in shows such as the Chelsea Flower Show.

 

For garden cultivation, iris classification differs from taxonomic classification. Garden iris are classed as either bulb iris or rhizome iris (called rhizomatous) with a number of further subdivisions. Due to a wide variety of geographic origins, and thus great genetic diversity, cultivation needs of iris vary greatly.

 

Generally, Irises grow well in most garden soil types providing they are well-drained, depending on the species. The earliest to bloom are species like I. reticulata and I. reichenbachii, which flower as early as February and March in the Northern Hemisphere, followed by the dwarf forms of I. pumila and others. In May or June, most of the tall bearded varieties start to bloom, such as the German iris and its variety florentina, sweet iris, Hungarian iris, lemon-yellow iris (I. flavescens), Iris sambucina, and their natural and horticultural hybrids such as those described under names like I. neglecta or I. squalens and best united under I. × lurida.

 

The iris is promoted in the United Kingdom by the British Iris Society. The National Collection of Arthur Bliss Irises is held in Gloucestershire.

 

The American Iris Society is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for Iris, and recognises over 30,000 registered cultivar names.

 

Bearded rhizome iris

Bearded iris are classified as dwarf, tall, or aril. In Europe, the most commonly found garden iris is a hybrid iris (falsely called German iris, I. germanica which is sterile) and its numerous cultivars. Various wild forms (including Iris aphylla) and naturally occurring hybrids of the Sweet iris (I. pallida) and the Hungarian iris (I. variegata) form the basis of almost all modern hybrid bearded irises. Median forms of bearded iris (intermediate bearded, or IB; miniature tall bearded, or MTB; etc.) are derived from crosses between tall and dwarf species like Iris pumila.

 

The "beard", short hairs arranged to look like a long furry caterpillar, is found toward the back of the lower petals and its purpose is to guide pollinating insects toward the reproductive parts of the plant. Bearded irises have been cultivated to have much larger blooms than historically; the flowers are now twice the size of those a hundred years ago. Ruffles were introduced in the 1960s to help stabilize the larger petals.

 

Bearded iris are easy to cultivate and propagate and have become very popular in gardens. A small selection is usually held by garden centres at appropriate times during the season, but there are thousands of cultivars available from specialist suppliers (more than 30,000 cultivars of tall bearded iris). They are best planted as bare root plants in late summer, in a sunny open position with the rhizome visible on the surface of the soil and facing the sun. They should be divided in summer every two or three years, when the clumps become congested.

 

A truly red bearded iris, like a truly blue rose, remains an unattained goal despite frequent hybridizing and selection. There are species and selections, most notably based on the beardless rhizomatous Copper iris (I. fulva), which have a relatively pure red color. However, getting this color into a modern bearded iris breed has proven very difficult, and thus, the vast majority of irises are in the purple and blue range of the color spectrum, with yellow, pink, orange and white breeds also available. Irises – like many related genera – lack red-based hues because their anthocyanins are delphinidin-derived. Pelargonidin-derived anthocyanins would lend the sought-after blue-based colors but these genera are metabolically disinclined to produce pelargonidin. Dihydroflavonol 4-reductases in Iris's relatives selectively do not catalyse dihydrokaempferol to leucopelargonidin, the precursor, and this is probably the case here as well. The other metabolic difficulty is the presence of flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase, which in Chrysanthemum inhibits pelargonidin synthesis. The bias in irises towards delphinidin-anthocyanins is so pronounced that they have served as the gene donors for transgenic attempts at the aforementioned blue roses. Although these have been technically successful – over 99% of their anthocyanins are blue – their growth is crippled and they have never been commercializable.

 

AGM cultivars

The following is a selection of bearded irises that have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

 

'Alizes' (tall bearded, blue & white)

'Bumblebee Deelite' (miniature tall bearded, yellow/purple)

'Early Light' (tall bearded, pale yellow)

'Jane Phillips' (tall bearded, pale blue)

'Langport Wren' (intermediate bearded, maroon)

'Maui Moonlight' (intermediate bearded, pale yellow)

'Orinoco Flow' (border bearded, white/violet)

'Raspberry Blush' (intermediate bearded, pink)

'Sarah Taylor' (dwarf bearded, pale yellow)

'Thornbird' (tall bearded, pale yellow)

'Titan's Glory' (tall bearded, deep blue)

Bearded iris Oncocyclus section

This section contains the cushion irises or royal irises, a group of plants noted for their large, strongly marked flowers. Between 30 and 60 species are classified in this section, depending on the authority. Species of section Oncocyclus are generally strict endemics, typically occurring in a small number of scattered, disjunct populations, whose geographical isolation is enhanced by their pollination strategy and myrmecochory seed dispersal. Morphological divergence between populations usually follows a cline reflecting local adaptation to environment conditions; furthermore, this largely overlaps divergence between species, making it difficult to identify discrete species boundaries in these irises. Compared with other irises, the cushion varieties are scantily furnished with narrow sickle-shaped leaves and the flowers are usually borne singly on the stalks; they are often very dark and in some almost blackish. The cushion irises are somewhat fastidious growers, and to be successful with them they must be planted rather shallow in very gritty well-drained soil. They should not be disturbed in the autumn, and after the leaves have withered the roots should be protected from heavy rains until growth starts again naturally.

 

Bearded iris Regelia section

This section, closely allied to the cushion irises, includes several garden hybrids with species in section Oncocyclus, known as Regelio-cyclus irises. They are best planted in September or October in warm sunny positions, the rhizomes being lifted the following July after the leaves have withered.

 

Beardless rhizome iris (subgenus Limniris)

There are six major subgroupings of the beardless iris, depending on origin. They are divided into Pacific Coast, Siberica, Spuria, Louisiana, Japanese, and other.

 

Beardless rhizomatous iris types commonly found in the European garden are the Siberian iris (I. sibirica) and its hybrids, and the Japanese Iris (I. ensata) and its hybrids. "Japanese iris" is also a catch-all term for the Japanese iris proper (hanashōbu), the blood iris (I. sanguinea, ayame) and the rabbit-ear iris (I. laevigata, kakitsubata). I. unguicularis is a late-winter-flowering species from Algeria, with sky-blue flowers with a yellow streak in the centre of each petal, produced from Winter to Spring. Yet another beardless rhizomatous iris popular in gardening is I. ruthenica, which has much the same requirements and characteristics as the tall bearded irises. In North America, Louisiana iris and its hybrids are often cultivated.

 

Crested rhizome iris (subgenus Limniris)

One specific species, Iris cristata from North America.

 

Bulbing juno iris (subgenus Scorpiris)

Often called 'junos', this type of iris is one of the more popular bulb irises in cultivation. They are generally earliest to bloom.

 

Bulbing European iris (subgenus Xiphium)

This group includes irises generally of European descent, and are also classified as Dutch, English, or Spanish iris.

 

Iris reticulata and Iris persica, both of which are fragrant, are also popular with florists.

Iris xiphium, the Spanish Iris (also known as Dutch Iris) and

Iris latifolia, the English Iris. Despite the common names both the Spanish and English iris are of Spanish origin, and have very showy flowers, so they are popular with gardeners and florists. They are among the hardier bulbous irises, and can be grown in northern Europe. They require to be planted in thoroughly drained beds in very light open soil, moderately enriched, and should have a rather sheltered position. Both these present a long series of varieties of the most diverse colours, flowering in May, June and July, the smaller Spanish iris being the earlier of the two.

Bulbing reticulate iris (subgenus Hermodactyloides)

Reticulate irises with their characteristic bulbs, including the yellow I. danfordiae, and the various blue-purple I. histrioides and I. reticulata, flower as early as February and March. These reticulate-bulbed irises are miniatures and popular spring bulbs, being one of the first to bloom in the garden. Many of the smaller species of bulbous iris, being liable to perish from excess of moisture, should have a well-drained bed of good but porous soil made up for them, in some sunny spot, and in winter should be protected by a covering of half-decayed leaves or fresh coco-fiber.

 

Uses

Bombay Sapphire gin contains flavoring derived from particular bearded iris species Iris germanica and Iris pallida.

Rhizomes of the German iris (I. germanica) and sweet iris (I. pallida) are traded as orris root and are used in perfume and medicine, though more common in ancient times than today. Today, Iris essential oil (absolute) from flowers are sometimes used in aromatherapy as sedative medicines. The dried rhizomes are also given whole to babies to help in teething. Gin brands such as Bombay Sapphire and Magellan Gin use orris root and sometimes iris flowers for flavor and color.

 

For orris root production, iris rhizomes are harvested, dried, and aged for up to 5 years. In this time, the fats and oils inside the roots undergo degradation and oxidation, which produces many fragrant compounds that are valuable in perfumery. The scent is said to be similar to violets. The aged rhizomes are steam-distilled which produces a thick oily compound, known in the perfume industry as "iris butter" or orris oil.

 

Iris rhizomes also contain notable amounts of terpenes, and organic acids such as ascorbic acid, myristic acid, tridecylenic acid and undecylenic acid. Iris rhizomes can be toxic. Larger blue flag (I. versicolor) and other species often grown in gardens and widely hybridized contain elevated amounts of the toxic glycoside iridin. These rhizomes can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or skin irritation, but poisonings are not normally fatal. Irises should only be used medicinally under professional guidance.

 

Water purification

Further information: Organisms involved in water purification

Further information: Waste stabilization pond

 

Flowering yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus) at a treatment pond

In water purification, yellow iris (I. pseudacorus) is often used. The roots are usually planted in a substrate (e.g. lava-stone) in a reedbed-setup. The roots then improve water quality by consuming nutrient pollutants, such as from agricultural runoff. This highly aggressive grower is now considered a noxious weed and prohibited in some states of the US where it is found clogging natural waterways.

 

In culture

The iris has been used in art and as a symbol, including in heraldry. The symbolic meaning has evolved, in Christendom moving from a symbol of Mary mother of Jesus, to a French heraldic sign, the fleur-de-lis, and from French royalty it spread throughout Europe and beyond.

 

Art

Vincent van Gogh has painted several famous pictures of irises.

 

The American artist Joseph Mason – a friend of John James Audubon – painted a precise image of what was then known as the Louisiana flag or copper iris (Iris fulva), to which Audubon subsequently added two Northern paraula birds (Parula americana) for inclusion as Plate 15 in his Birds of America.

 

The artist Philip Hermogenes Calderon painted an iris in his 1856 work Broken Vows; he followed the principles of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. An ancient belief is that the iris serves as a warning to be heeded, as it was named for the messenger of Olympus. It also conveys images of lost love and silent grief, for young girls were led into the afterlife by the goddess Iris. Broken Vows was accompanied with poetry by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow when it was first exhibited.

 

Contemporary artist George Gessert, who introduced the cultivation of flowers as an art form, has specialised in breeding irises.

 

Local varieties as symbol

Iris nigricans, the black iris is the national flower of Jordan.

 

Iris bismarckiana, the Nazareth Iris, is the symbol of the city of Upper Nazareth.

 

The Iris croatica is the unofficial national flower of Croatia.

 

A stylized yellow iris is the symbol of Brussels, since historically the important Saint Gaugericus Island was carpeted in them. The iris symbol is now the sole feature on the flag of the Brussels-Capital Region.

 

In 1998, Iris lacustris, the Dwarf Lake iris, was designated the state wildflower of Michigan, where the vast majority of populations exist.

 

In 1990, the Louisiana iris was voted the state wildflower of Louisiana (see also fleur-de-lis:United States, New France), though the state flower is the magnolia blossom.

 

An iris — species unspecified — is one of the state flowers of Tennessee. It is generally accepted that the species Iris versicolor, the Purple Iris, is the state flower alongside the wild-growing purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), the state's other floral emblem. Greeneville, Tennessee, is home to the annual Iris Festival celebrating the iris, local customs, and culture.

 

The species Iris versicolor is also the provincial flower of Quebec, Canada, having replaced the Madonna lily which is not native to the province (see also fleur-de-lis: Canada). The provincial flag of Québec carries the harlequin blueflag (I. versicolor, iris versicolore in French).

 

China

It is thought in China that Iris anguifuga has the ability to keep snakes from entering the garden. It grows all winter, keeping snakes out, but then goes dormant in the spring, allowing the snakes back into the garden. In the autumn, the iris re-appears and can stop the snakes again.

 

Ancient Greece

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the goddess Persephone and her companion nymphs (the Oceanids along with Artemis and Athena) were gathering flowers such as rose, crocus, violet, iris (also called 'agallis' or ἀγαλλίς (in Greek script), lily, larkspur, and hyacinth in a springtime meadow before she was abducted by the god Hades.

 

It has been suggested that the 'agallis' mentioned was a dwarf iris, as described by leaf and root shape) and identified as Iris attica.

 

Muslim culture

In Iran and Kashmir, Iris kashmiriana and Iris germanica are most commonly grown on Muslim grave yards.

 

Fleur-de-lis and associated heraldry

French King Clovis I (466–511), when he converted to Christianity, changed his symbol on his banner from three toads to irises (the Virgin's flower).

 

The fleur-de-lis, a stylized iris, first occurs in its modern use as the emblem of the House of Capet. The fleur-de-lis has been associated with France since Louis VII adopted it as a symbol in the 12th century. The yellow fleur-de-lis reflects the yellow iris (I. pseudacorus), common in Western Europe. Contemporary uses can be seen in the Quebec flag and the logo of the New Orleans Saints professional football team and on the flag of Saint Louis, Missouri.

 

The red fleur-de-lis in the coat-of-arms and flag of Florence, Italy, descends from the white iris which is native to Florence and which grew even in its city walls. This white iris displayed against a red background was the symbol of Florence until the Medici family reversed the colors to signal a change in political power, setting in motion a centuries-long and still on-going breeding program to hybridize a red iris.

 

Scouting, fraternities & sororities

The fleur-de-lis is the almost-universal symbol of Scouting and one of the symbols adopted by the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma.

 

The Iris versicolor is the official flower of Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity.

I'm on sedatives. Um....yay?

Papaver is a genus of 70–100 species of frost-tolerant annuals, biennials, and perennials native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa and North America. It is the type genus of the poppy family, Papaveraceae.

 

Description

The flowers have two sepals that fall off as the bud opens, and four (or up to six) petals in red, pink, orange, yellow, or lilac. There are many stamens in several whorls around a compound pistil, which results from the fusion of carpels. The stigmas are visible on top of the capsule, and the number of stigmas corresponds to the number of fused carpels.

 

The ovary later develops into a dehiscing capsule, capped by the dried stigmas. The opened capsule scatters its numerous, tiny seeds as air movement shakes it, due to the long stem.

 

The typical Papaver gynoecium is superior (the flower is hypogynous) with a globular ovary. The style is characteristically absent for the type species opium poppy, and several others, although those with a style do exist. The sessile plate-like stigmata lies on top of the ovary. Pollen-receptive surfaces. The characteristic fruit type of Papaver is the unilocular capsule. The stigmatic disc rests on top of the capsule, and beneath it are dehiscent pores or valves.

 

Taxonomy

 

The factual accuracy of parts of this article (those related to this section) may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is: publications since 2006 are not taken into account. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2021)

Divided into a number of sections by Kiger (1973, 1985), the following are lectotypified with their lectotype species. Subsequent cladistic classification by Carolan et al. (2006) suggested Papaver was not monophyletic.

 

Clade 1. P. sect. Meconella, Meconopsis

Clade 2. P. sect. Carinatae, P. sect. Meconidium, P. sect. Oxytona, P. sect. Papaver, P. sect. Pilosa, P. sect. Pseudopilosa, P. cambrica, P. sect. Californicum, P. sect. Horrida and P. sect. Rhoeadium

Clade 3. P. sect. Argemonidium, Roemeria refracta

The following are lectotypified with their lectotype species:

 

P. sect. Carinatae (P. macrostomum Boiss. & Huet)

P. sect. Oxytona (P. orientale L.)

P. sect. Macrantha (P. orientale L.) - superfluous

P. sect. Calomecon (Calomecon orientale)

Phylogeny of Papaver and related genera

 

Papaver sect. Argemonidium includes four annual, half-rosette species, P. argemone, P. pavonium, P. apulum, and P. hybridum (Kadereit 1986a). Papaver apulum, P. argemone and P. pavonium occur allopatrically from the Adriatic Sea to the Himalayan range. P. hybridum is distributed widely from the Himalayas to Macaronesian Islands. These species are easily distinguished in petal and capsule characters, but are clearly closely related according to molecular analysis. Argemonidium is a sister group to all other Papaver sections, with characteristic indels. Morphological characters also support this distinction, including the presence of an apical plug in the capsules, long internodes above the basal leaf rosette, bristly capsules and polyporate pollen grains. Carolan et al. (2006) supported Kadereit et al. (1997)’s suggestions that Argemonidium and Roemeria are in fact sister taxa. They share some morphological characters that distinguish them from Papaver, including polyporate pollen grains, and long internodes superior the basal leaf rosette. Previous taxonomies of the Old World clade did include the close relationship between Argemonidium and Roemeria, nor Argemonidium’s distinctness from Papaver s.s. Carolan suggest Argemonidium be elevated to genus status, with Roemeria a sub-genus.

 

Papaver sect. Meconella is widely distributed, with populations spanning central, inner and eastern Asia, Siberia, Scandinavia, northern Greenland, Canada, the Rocky Mountains, and regions of Europe. It has been distinguished from other Papaver sections morphologically by its bristly, valvate capsules, pinnatisect leaves, pale stamen, and white, orange or yellow corolla. Older taxonomies divided Meconella into two groups based on degree of leaf dissection (finely dissected leaves vs. broad leaf lobes). Kadereit (1990) and Kadereit and Sytsma (1992) regarded finely dissected leaves as a derived character, and suggested that Meconella formed a group with Argemonidium as sister to other Papaver sects. Bittkau and Kadereit (2002) demonstrated that for P. alpinum s.l. broad leaf lobes were ancestral. Carolan et al. (2006) resolved Meconopsis as sister to sect. Meconella, forming a sister clade to the rest of Papaver, excluding Argemonidium. Meconella possesses a sessile stigmatic disc, similar to the typical discs of Papaver sect. Papaver., yet differences in the disc and other morphological characters have led to suggestions that this feature may not be homologous. The results of the Carolan et al. (2006) analysis present a major problem to previous taxonomy of the genera Meconopsis, and Papaver. As several species of Meconopsis (excluding M. cambrica) and P. Meconella resolved as a monophyletic group, sister to other Papaver sects., either Meconella must be elevated to genus status, or combined with the Asian species of Meconopsis, as a subgenus of Papaver.

 

Papaver sects. Californicum and Horrida have unique geographic distributions in relation to the rest of the genus. Horrida is represented by a single species Papaver aculeatum of, an annual flower native to South Africa. The capsule is glabrous narrow, long and poricidal. The vegetative parts are covered with setae, and the growth form is a rosette with rarely branching axes, and narrowly elliptical incised leaves. P. sect. californicum, is also represented by a single annual species, of the same name. As the name implies, it is native to western North America, and is characterized by a slender, ribbed, glabrous capsule, a racemose inflorescence, yellow anthers and filaments, and valvate capsule dehiscece. Previous morphological-based taxonomies of these species have led to unreliable groupings. Horrida and Pilosa have racemose inflorescences, pale filiform filaments and long capsules with flat stigmatic discs, while P. californicum and sect. Meconidium share valvate capsule dehiscence and pale filaments, but geographically these species are distinct, and do not follow molecular evidence. Commonality among these features is therefore hypothesized to be a result of convergence. In Carolan et al.’s (2006) combined ITS, trnL-F trees, both Horrida and Californicum attach to basal nodes within the main clade Papaver. Kadereit et al. (1997) postulated that Stylomecon heterophylla arose from within Papaver and should not be relegated as a separate genus. S. heterophylla and P. californicum are both native to southwestern North America, and share habitats. They are also morphologically similar, sharing glabrous buds, bright orange corollas, and yellow anthers. Their capsules are different, with S. heterophylla possessing a distinct style that is reminiscent of those in many Meconopsis species. However, Carolan et al.’s (2006) analysis strongly supports a monophyletic group for S. heterophylla and P. californicum, sister to the core Papaver sects, with Horrida, basal to that grouping. They recommended that both sects. Californicum and Horrida be elevated to “subgenera” within Papaver. The authors reject the genus status of Stylomecon.

 

Meconopsis is composed of mostly Asian dwelling species, and a single European representative, M. cambrica. Kadereit et al. (1997) first provided evidence that this relationship is not monophyletic. Carolan et al. (2006) confirmed the separation of M. cambrica from the rest of Meconopsis. In fact, it forms a well-supported sister-group to the core sections of Papaver, excluding Argemonidium, Californicum, Horrida and Meconella.

 

The core sections of Papaver s.s. form a well-supported clade, consisting of Pseudopilosa, Pilosa, Papaver, Carinatae, Meconidium, Oxytona, and Rhoeadium. Pseudopilosa spp. have a subscapose growth habit, and their distribution includes south-western Asia, northern Africa and southern Spain. There are some leaves on the lower part of the flower axis carrying a single flower. Carolan et al.’s (2006) analysis placed Pseudopilosa as sister to the remaining Papaver s.s. sections. Pilosa is a single species, P. pilosum, found mostly in western Turkey Sects. Pilosa and Pseudopilosa are separated based on morphological and chemical differences.

 

The monophyly of Carinatae, Papaver and Rhoeadium is questionable based on current molecular evidence.[3] Papaver sect. Rhoeadium comprises seventeen annual species. Carolan et al. (2006) use three representative species, P. commutatum, P. dubium, and P. rhoeas for their genetic analysis. The geographic center of Rhoeadium’s diversity is in south-western Asia and the Aegean area. They have poricidal capsules and usually dark filaments. This section is morphologically diverse however, leading Kadereit (1989) to recognize three distinct groups. The first comprises species with tetraploid and hexaploid genomes, with long capsules. The second group contains diploid species and diverse morphologies. The third group consists of diploid species and uniform morphologies. Carolan et al. (2006) showed some incongruences between their trnL-F and ITS maximum parsimony trees, showing weak support for Kadereit's (1989) groupings. Further analyses with more species and more samples will be necessary to resolve the phylogeny at this level.

 

Papaver has traditionally been characterized by the absence of a stigma, and the presence of a sessile stigmatic disc. Carolan et al. (2006) demonstrated that several species with this trait however are closely related to taxa possessing a style e.g. S. heterophylla and P. californicum, and P. sect. Meconella and Asian Meconopsis. This evidence, in combination with morphological differences among the discs suggests convergent evolutionary pathways. Papaver has long been considered the most derived clade within Papaveroideae, due to the belief that the stigmatic disc was an apomorphous characteristic. Sections Meconella and Californicum exhibit valvate dehiscence, and their basal position within Papaver suggest this may be an ancestral form. Its presence in Meconidium, however, suggests it is also a synapomorphy within that group.

 

Note: Meconella (not to be confused with the genus Meconella) has an alpine and circumpolar arctic distribution and includes some of the most northerly-growing vascular land plants.

 

Species

There are 70–100 species, including:

 

Papaver acrochaetum

Papaver aculeatum : South African poppy

Papaver alboroseum : pale poppy

Papaver alpinum : dwarf poppy

Papaver amurense

Papaver apokrinomenon

Papaver apulum

Papaver arachnoideum

Papaver arenarium

Papaver argemone : long pricklyhead poppy, prickly poppy, pale poppy

Papaver armeniacum

Papaver atlanticum (syn. P. rupifragum var. atlanticum)

Papaver aurantiacum

Papaver belangeri

Papaver berberica

Papaver bipinnatum

Papaver bracteatum

Papaver burseri (syn. Papaver alpinum) - alpine poppy

Papaver californicum : fire poppy, western poppy

Papaver cambricum : Welsh poppy

Papaver clavatum

Papaver commutatum

Papaver croceum : ice poppy

Papaver curviscapum

Papaver cylindricum

Papaver dahlianum : Svalbard poppy

Papaver decaisnei

Papaver degenii : Pirin poppy

Papaver dubium : long-headed poppy, blindeyes

Papaver fugax

Papaver giganteum

Papaver glaucum : tulip poppy, Turkish red poppy

Papaver gorgoneum

Papaver gorodkovii : Arctic poppy

Papaver gracile :

Papaver guerlekense

Papaver hybridum : round pricklyhead poppy

Papaver kluanense : alpine poppy

Papaver lacerum

Papaver lapponicum : Lapland poppy

Papaver lasiothrix

Papaver lateritium

Papaver macounii : Macoun's poppy

Papaver mcconnellii : McConnell's poppy

Papaver miyabeanum : Japanese poppy

Papaver nudicaule : Iceland poppy, Icelandic poppy

Papaver orientale L.

Papaver paucifoliatum

Papaver persicum

Papaver pilosum :

Papaver polychaetum

Papaver postii

Papaver purpureamarginatum

Papaver pygmaeum : pigmy poppy

Papaver quintuplinervium : harebell poppy

Papaver radicatum : rooted poppy

Papaver rhoeas : common poppy, corn poppy, annual poppy, Flanders poppy, Shirley poppy

Papaver rhopalothece

Papaver rupifragum : Atlas poppy, Moroccan poppy, Spanish poppy

Papaver sendtneri : white alpine poppy

Papaver setiferum Goldblatt, syn. P. pseudo-orientale (Fedde) Medw. : Oriental poppy

Papaver setigerum : Poppy of Troy, dwarf breadseed poppy

Papaver somniferum : Opium poppy (Type species)

Papaver spicatum

Papaver strictum

Papaver stylatum

Papaver tenuifolium

Papaver triniifolium

Papaver umbonatum : Semitic poppy, Israeli poppy

Papaver walpolei : Walpole's poppy

History and uses

Poppies have been grown as ornamental plants since 5000 BC in Mesopotamia. They were found in Egyptian tombs. In Greek mythology, the poppy was associated with Demeter, goddess of fertility and agriculture. The origin of the cultural symbol was probably Minoan Crete, because a figurine known as the "poppy goddess" was found at a Minoan sanctuary in Crete.

 

In the course of history, poppies have always been attributed important medicinal properties. The stems contain a milky latex that may cause skin irritation, and the latex in the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) contains several narcotic alkaloids, including morphine and codeine. The alkaloid rhoeadine, derived from the flowers of the corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas), is used as a mild sedative. Poppy seeds are used in baking and cooking, and poppyseed oil is used in cooking and pharmaceuticals, and as a radiocontrast agent.

 

The ancient Greeks portrayed Hypnos, Nyx and Thanatos, the gods of sleep, night and death, with the symbol of the poppy. The earliest written record appeared in the eighth century BC. Early Greek accounts seem to indicate the plant was used for euthanasia; on some Greek islands, women used it in old age to shorten the time left until natural death. Hippocrates (460–377 BC) was one of the first to emphasize the medicinal uses of the poppy and outline several methods of preparation. He described poppy juice as narcotic, hypnotic, and cathartic. He also recognized the plant's uses as food, particularly the seeds. By the first century AD, Dioskorides wrote down the first poppy taxonomy. He distinguished between several different kinds, the first of which was the "cultivated" or "garden" poppies. He further distinguished two types within this category, ones with black and others with white seeds. Both had elongated capsules and the black-seeded variety was involuted. Historians speculate this variety was Papaver somniferum. Other species were in use, as well. Dioskorides named the “flowering” poppy as a type with strong hypnotic properties. This is believed to be Papaver hybridum. Finally, the “wild” poppy he described is believed to be Papaver orientale. Pliny the Elder, a Roman historian, later mentioned an “intermediate” type between the wild and cultivated poppy, likely Papaver rhoeas. He wrote about medical applications of the plant; the leaves and capsules were boiled in water to create juice, pressed and rubbed to create tablets, and the dried latex was used to form opium. These products were used in much the same way they are in many cultures today, to promote sleep and to relieve indigestion and respiratory problems.

 

A century later, Galen wrote even more extensively about the diverse applications of various poppy products. He wrote that opium was the strongest known drug for dulling the senses and for inducing sleep. He wrote about its use to treat a variety of ailments, including eye and lung inflammation.

 

The First (1839–1842) and Second Opium Wars (1856–1860) between China and Great Britain resulted from attempts by successive Chinese emperors to suppress increasing imports of opium into the country. In the first half of the 19th century, poppy seed oil was an important food crop, but large-scale production did not begin until Europe began to manufacture morphine in the mid-19th century. While 800–1000 tons of Indian opium are processed legally each year, this represents only an estimated 5% of total opium production worldwide; the majority is produced illegally. The first factory specializing in dry capsule processing was built in 1928.

 

Today, morphine and codeine are common alkaloids found in several poppy varieties, and are important drugs for much of the world. Australia, Turkey and India are the most important producers of poppy for medicinal use, while the US, the UK, France, Australia and Hungary are the largest processors. In the United States, opium is illegal, as is possession or cultivation of the flower itself. However, the law is seldom enforced when poppies are grown for culinary or ornamental use. The Opium Poppy Control Act Of 1942 led to the “Poppy Rebellion”, and a battle between California farmers and the federal government. Today, the law and its enforcement remain vague and controversial, even inciting episodes between gardeners and "the poppy police".

 

They are also sold as cut flowers in flower arrangements, especially the Iceland poppy.

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... around a Hawthorn Tree - doubly magic!

 

The Hawthorn has many medical properties, among them being antispasmodic, cardio vascular, sedative and a vasodilator.

 

Young leaves and flower buds can be added to salads. Teas are made from the berries and flowers. Also strong liquor is made from the buds. Berries can be made into a jelly.

 

The wood has been used for making handles and engravers blocks. Also the wood from the roots was used to make boxes and combs.

 

It is the tree of True partnership, love and commitment. In ancient Greece the bride and groom would wear hawthorn flowers on their heads and the wedding party would carry burning branches of Hawthorn.

 

It is said if you dance round a faery ring nine times then you will see the faeries, but if you do this on their sacred days, such as Beltane (May 1), Coamhain (Midsummer), or Samhain (Halloween), then the faeries will be very offended and will take you to Elf Land.

 

If you stand in a faery ring under a full moon and make a wish, then it is supposed to come true.

 

Faery rings are also called hags rings because witches were thought to dance in them.

 

if anyone's interested in druidical rites etc:- www.druidry.org/library/trees/tree-lore-hawthorn

I found them yesterday. They are beautiful too :)

 

Viola odorata is a species of the genus Viola native to Europe and Asia, but has also been introduced to North America and Australasia. It is commonly known as Sweet Violet, English Violet, Common Violet, or Garden Violet. The species can be found near the edges of forests or in clearings; it is also a common "uninvited guest" in shaded lawns or elsewhere in gardens. The flowers appear as early as February and last until the end of April. The sweet scent of this flower has proved popular, particularly in the late Victorian period, and has consequently been used in the production of many cosmetic fragrances and perfumes. The French are also known for their violet syrup, most commonly made from an extract of violets.

Flowers are also edible and used as food additives for instance in salad, made into jelly, and candied for decoration. A decoction made from the root (dry herb) is used as a laxative. Tea made from the entire plant is used to treat digestive disorders and new research has detected the presence of a glycoside of salicylic acid (natural aspirin) which substantiates its use for centuries as a medicinal remedy for headache, body pains and as a sedative. As a bath additive the fresh crushed flowers are soothing to the skin and the aroma is very relaxing.

 

Polish name: fiołek wonny

Heroin, a newly commercialized product marketed to customers as an effective, safe treatment - and it did work against the coughs caused by serious and then-common diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. Physicians and pharmacists soon noticed an unhappy side effect—patients required ever larger doses and were becoming increasingly dependent on the elixir..........

Austrian postcard by Verlag Hubmann (HDH Verlag), Wien, no. 156. Photo: Afex. Photo: Alan Ladd in Shane (George Stevens, 1953).

 

Alan Ladd (1913-1964) had his big break as a killer in the film noir This Gun For Hire (1942). Throughout the 1940s, his tough-guy roles packed audiences, but he is best known for his title role in the classic Western Shane (1953).

 

Alan Walbridge Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA in 1913. His mother, Ina Raleigh. had emigrated from England at age 19, and his accountant father, Alan Ladd, died when his son was only four. At age five, Alan burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter. Alan was malnourished, undersized and nicknamed 'Tiny', and the family moved to California. Alan picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married his friend Midge in 1936, but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937, they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son, Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them, her agonizing suicide from ant poison witnessed a few months later by her son. For a short time, Ladd was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. His size and blond hair were regarded by Universal as not right for movies, so he worked hard at radio. There talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. He appeared in a string of bit parts in B-pictures - and an unbilled part as a newspaper reporter in Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane (1941). Late in 1941, he got his big break when he tested for This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942) based on the novel by Graham Greene. His fourth-billed role as psychotic hitman Raven made him a star.

 

Alan Ladd and his co-star in This Gun for Hire, Veronica Lake, made seven films together. These included The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler, 1942), The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall 1946), and Saigon (Leslie Fenton, 1948). Ladd was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia. His cool, unsmiling tough-guys proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was one of the top box office stars of the decade. In an adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949), Ladd had the featured role of Jay Gatsby. Four years later he appeared in what many regard as his greatest role, Shane (George Stevens, 1953). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. From then on he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films . By the end of the 1950s liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In 1963 Ladd's career looked set to make a comeback when he filmed a supporting role in The Carpetbaggers (Edward Dmytryk, 1964), which became one of the most popular films of the year. He would not live to see its release. In January 1964 Alan Ladd was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives. Ladd was only 50. He was married twice. After his divorce from Marjorie Jane Harrold in 1941, he married former film actress Sue Carol in 1942. Carol was also his agent and manager. The couple had two children, Alana Ladd and David Ladd. He was the grandfather of Jordan Ladd.

 

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

A graviola (Annona muricata) é uma planta originária das Antilhas, onde se encontra em estado silvestre.

 

Nos Andes do Peru, a folha é tradicionalmente usada como chá no tratamento de catarro excessivo. As sementes tem ação anti parasitaria, as raízes e as folhas eram utilizadas para diabetes; no Brasil, tornou-se subespontânea na Amazônia. Prefere climas úmidos e baixa altitude.

 

A gravioleira é uma árvore de pequeno porte (atinge de 4 a 6 metros de altura) e encontrada em quase todas as florestas tropicais, com folhas verdes brilhantes e flores amareladas, grandes e isoladas, que nascem no tronco e nos ramos. Os frutos têm forma ovalada, casca verde-pálida, são grandes, chegando a pesar entre 750 gramas a 8 quilogramas e dando o ano todo.

 

Contém muitas espinhas, vermelhas, envolvidas por uma polpa branca, de sabor agridoce, muito delicado e considerados por muitos que o comeram semelhante ao fruto abóbora (ou jerimum, no nordeste do Brasil). Estão a realizar-se estudos para saber se a graviola cura ou não o cancro (ou câncer, em português do Brasil).

 

O óleo de graviola oferece muitas propriedades na qual inclui bactericida, adstringentes, hipotensor e sedativo para citar alguns. Seus usos tradicionais são para tratar a asma, calafrios, febre, conduto, pressão alta, insônia, nervosismo, reumatismo e doenças de pele. Usá-lo em cremes, loções e bálsamos para aliviar a coceira de pele seca e para eczema e sintomas de psoríase. A semente tem alto valor de magnésio e potássio em relação a polpa da fruta.

 

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Soursop fruit (Annona muricata) is a plant native to the Antilles, where it is found in the wild.

 

In the Peruvian Andes, leaf is traditionally used as a tea in the treatment of excessive phlegm. The seeds have antiparasitic action, roots and leaves were used for diabetes; in Brazil, became subspontaneous in the Amazon. Prefers humid climates and low altitude.

 

The soursop is a small tree (reaches 4 to 6 meters high) and found in almost all tropical forests, with bright green leaves and yellowish flowers, large and isolated, that are born in the trunk and in the branches. The fruits are oval shaped, pale green bark, are large, reaching between 750 grams to 8 kilograms and giving the whole year.

 

It contains many red spines, surrounded by a white pulp, bittersweet in taste, very delicate and considered by many who ate it similar to the pumpkin fruit (or jerimum, in northeastern Brazil). Studies are being carried out to determine whether or not graviola cures cancer (or cancer, in Brazilian Portuguese).

 

Graviola oil offers many properties in which it includes bactericidal, astringent, hypotensive and sedative to name a few. Its traditional uses are to treat asthma, chills, fever, flue, high blood pressure, insomnia, nervousness, rheumatism and skin diseases. Use it on creams, lotions and balms to relieve itchy dry skin and for eczema and psoriasis symptoms. The seed has a high value of magnesium and potassium in relation to fruit pulp.

Autumn crocus, meadow saffron, naked ladies (Colchicum autumnale). Properties and uses: It is sedative, cathartic, diuretic, and emetic. Deadly poisonous due to the presence of colchicine. Used in gout and gouty rheumatism, dropsy, palpitation of the heart; care should be used in its employment. The tincture is the best form of administration.

After another few hours we get back to the shelter. The sedatives and pain killers have pretty much completely worn off by now and my finger’s starting to ache, so getting my jacket and glove off was a slight pain. I finish getting my gear off and go into the living room area.

 

Cristy - “Hang on a second and I’ll get some more pain killers and the anti-biotics for you.”

Phin - “Yeah, sure.”

 

Cristy continues taking off her gear by the bag hooks. I raise my hand and make a fist, I opening it back up and let out a sigh.

 

Phin - “I’m not sure whether to say I’m lucky or unlucky. On one hand all the bullets could've completely missed my fingers, on the other hand they could've went right into the rest of my body…”

 

Cristy finishes taking off her jacket and turns over to me.

 

Cristy - “Hey, d-don’t think about that. You’re still in one piece – mostly, anyway. That’s all that matters.”

 

I lower my hand back down and nod.

 

Phin - “I guess so.”

 

Cristy hangs up her jacket and does into the cold storage room as I take seat into the arm chair.

 

………….

 

Phin - “I guess you really deserve that patch you picked up now.”

Cristy - “Hmp. Uh, okay this might sting a little bit…”

Another hot day today (getting up to 30C - to feel like 32C - this afternoon). Yesterday was the same, when five of us had the chance to botanize the beautiful 320 acres belonging to philanthropist, David Bissett and his wife. This land, roughly half wooded, with several small ponds in the open area, lies SW of Calgary. For anyone not sure what "botanizing" involves, we visit someone's property for the day, listing every single species of plant and tree, bird, insect, fungus, lichen, moss, liverwort, etc. that we find. It is always a win/win situation, as we are lucky enough to have the chance to explore a new area and the landowner receives a highly detailed list of everything found on his land.

 

David Bissett's giving to community causes, especially education, has been a hallmark of his philanthropy. He has donated to a wide range of community cultural organizations, and he has a passion for wildlife conservation. Just one of his endless donations resulted in the creation of the Bissett Wetlands at Heritage Park here in the city, a popular educational destination.

 

calgary.ctvnews.ca/inspired-to-give-1.676279

 

mtroyal.ca/ProgramsCourses/FacultiesSchoolsCentres/Busine...

 

The heat, and the fact that my camera isn't working properly, took away most of my energy yesterday, but I managed to get a few photos that will be OK to upload. I will try and throw in the occasional bird or animal photo taken on other days in other places, as I know many of you are not really interested in plants : ) Just not getting time to go through my photos these days.

 

Many thanks to Christie, the young woman who looks after this property, for inviting us out for the morning, and for walking the trails with us! Very much appreciated!

 

"All parts of the plant are poisonous. However, accidental poisoning is not likely since the berries are extremely bitter. The berries are the most toxic part of the plant. A healthy adult will experience poisoning from as few as six berries. Ingestion of the berries causes nausea, dizziness, increased pulse and severe gastrointestinal discomfort. The toxins can also have an immediate sedative effect on the cardiac muscle tissue possibly leading to cardiac arrest if introduced into the bloodstream. As few as two berries may be fatal to a child. All parts of the plant contain an irritant oil that is most concentrated within the roots and berries." From Wikipedia.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaea_rubra

 

I don't usually see berries that have started to turn colour like these ones. When the berries are green to start off with, you never know if they will turn bright red or white. These are obviously going to be the vibrant red ones.

I am at the hospital for a vascular test. The hallway between two exam rooms is only as wide as a parking space, and two patients in stretchers have just been delivered, blocking me in. I'm parked in a chair in a 6' x 6' square of waiting room. I am next to the air conditioning unit, and my nose is runny, so I move to another of the four seats and find myself face to foot with a patient. The rest of him is in the exam room, the curtain of which has caught on one of his feet and lifted the sheet covering it. I am so close that I sit sideways.

 

The young female technician talks to him behind the curtain, and he answers in an old man's voice, which is perfectly appropriate, because he has an old man's foot. It is not like a lady's foot or a child's foot or even my husband's foot. It is a blue-ish pad of flesh with gnarly toes. Despite my dislike of feet, especially ones that look like this, with unkempt toenails hard as elephant tusks, I wonder about him. Where are the children or wife to rub those scaly feet, to clip those nails to keep them from scratching him in the night?

 

Occasionally the foot moves a little, and whether it's coyly or shyly or just to reposition, I can't tell. I'm betting he has other things on his mind than his exposure. I remember some sicknesses, the total absence of modesty. Because you don't care what's poking out of a curtain or even the back of your robe when you're puking from the pain. This is what some people think is a loss of dignity.

 

Certainly, people think, it's undignified to be in pain. Better to be full of sedatives and parked quietly by the wall, like the other patients here, trach tube covered with an oxygen mask, bag of vitamin-B-colored urine dangling by the side of the stretcher.

 

But that's undignified. What's undignified is that two orderlies clunk the left stretcher twice, and no one says excuse me, even reflexively. What's undignified is the young woman talking on her cellphone as she enters the elevator trailing an old, hunched over, moaning woman from her arm and doesn't stop talking for a moment, even as she drags the moaning woman from the elevator at the third floor.

 

I never see who belongs to this foot. I only know that I see it and I feel guilty for having walked in here myself, in these 12-year-old Steve Madden Olives, brown with a neat stitched flower. They are falling apart. But I am not. I am hale and hearty.

 

I didn't even park in the garage. I walked a quarter mile around the hospital. I trimmed my toenails last night before a bath. I got in the tub myself, without a metal bar.

 

I take my shirt off so the technician can look under my arms for an anomaly, which she doesn't find. I put my arms in different positions and lose my pulse. When I am finished, the foot and the man attached are gone. But I have not forgotten him.

 

He might have been immodest. He was not undignified.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - -

 

This photo will also be my contribution to Take a Class with Dave & Dave.

 

"Assignment 2. Industry. Cybergabi had this wonderful idea. I leave it to you how you want to show us industry, I'm hoping for the comically creative to the sublime.

 

I chose this for industry because medicine is one of the biggest industries in this country, possibly second only to war. Perhaps the things we see as lack of dignity are the result of our being treated in an undignified way by the medical establishment, even accidentally. The lab tech didn't know her patient's foot was in the hallway. The orderly didn't know his patient, hooked up to tubes, could feel the clunk against the wall, would indeed wince. Here we were, four patients crammed into a tiny space like extra meat in the freezer, another two stretchers on their way.

 

I understand the tests are necessary. People ask what was done before tests. Well, people died. That's what. And some of them might not have been ready to go by physician guess.

The square of the cardiology hospital @Balatonfüred

My very first go at this :)

 

Description and history:

"This hospital is the biggest cardiac rehabilitation centre in Hungary with its 427 beds, up-to-date facilities appliances. It is suitable for evaluation of the actual state of the different cardiovascular diseases. At the same time it also gives opportunity to treat the rheumatic complaints of the patients with the aid of physiotherapy, C02-baths, calisthenics etc.

 

The CO2-bath is one of the best known healing factors in Balatonfüred. The Kossuth-spring and other springs nearby the hospital deliver water containing free and bound C02 iron, magnesium, potassium, hydrocarbonate, calcium, sodium, sulphur and other minerals. The temperature of the spring water is 14-15oC. It is collected into a big basin and piped into the spa-building. Then the C02-rich water is warmed up to 32-34oC and used for treatment.

 

The Kossuth spring built in 1802. The C02rich water exerts its effect on the autonomic nervous system. The bubbles of C02 gas excite the thermoreceptors of the skin and the C02 absorbed from the water into the connective tissue causes there a reactive hyperaemia. Although the body temperature decreases, the patiens have an isothermal temperature feeling. Thought this effect the C02 bath represents the mildest and oldest form of hibernation, which causes a sedative effect on the autonomic nervous system. The natural C02 bath combined with other up-to-date physiotherapy treatments gives a unique rank to Balatonfüred among the resort places in Europe.

 

Another advantage of this place is the excellent microclimate. Lake Balaton on one side and a fairly big forest surrounded by nice hills on the other result in a milder winter, an early spring and a longer autumn. The air is clean and the humidity is moderate. These factors cause a curative effect on the cardiac patients.

 

It is very important to measure the physical capacity of cardiac patients."

-from bfkor.hu

 

More @ www.bfkor.hu/english/index.html

Found this beautiful little disintegrating mushroom down in Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, on August 16th. I know it looks huge in my macro shot, but it was only small. There were several of them not far from the base of a tree. Love how the cap curls upwards and the sun can shine through the gills.

 

It feels so nice and relaxing just sitting here at my computer for a short while this afternoon. My newish neighbour's dog isn't barking at this very moment (perhaps it wore itself out, barking till 2:40 a.m. this morning!). I hadn't had a chance to "catch" my neighbour, to bring up the subject of his unhappy dog driving me nuts - but then this morning, he came out of his place just as I arrived home from a walk all morning in Fish Creek Park. Apparently, he has two little dogs in there, one doesn't bark at all and the other he has been trying different things to stop her barking. Said he might just start using a sedative rather than have to give the dog away. Anyway, we had quite a long chat, so hopefully he can quieten his dog (well, he'd better, LOL!). I didn't get to sleep till around 4:00a.m., then overslept by an hour and a quarter and arrived late to meet friends for our walk. Before that, I had waited for part of Tuesday afternoon at a Walk-in Clinic just to see a doctor to get a prescription refill, followed in the evening by a whole fleet of fire engines (fire trucks) blaring their horns down my street and coming to a stop right outside my place (several came into our large parking area). This always scares me to death - if one condo goes up in flames, probably the whole building will be lost. Couldn't see what was going on as it was dark - all I could see were all the flashing lights. Then yesterday evening, after a very stressful (for all of us) volunteer afternoon shift, I found myself stuck in a traffic jam (thanks to an accident) that went part way across the city, and it took an hour and a half to inch my way to a talk at the University - arrived very late for that. So, it feels wonderful to just sit and quietly type - before I have to go out and take my dead vacuum cleaner to a repair store, collect my prescription (which they were out of on Tuesday) and hopefully see to another couple of errands. LOL, for some strange reason, all my overseas Christmas letters (which should have been mailed by now) haven't even been started : )

We pulled up to an island about five hours later at the coast of Australia. I asked where a police station was, to take this drug lord to prison. They said a hospital was a more appropriate place due to the two gaping holes in her shoulders. I neglected to mention I shot her with arrows. When we got to the hospital I made sure she was strapped in and was given enough sedatives to stay under during her recovery. They tended to my broken ribs and as soon as I could I got on a flight to Star City to see how my company did over the last seven years. The first thing most people would have done when they got back to America would be to take a shower, not me. I went to a casino. I saw Albert, another key investor in Chien’s drug ring, sitting at the black jack table. I asked about him and the dealer told me he comes here every Tuesday. After I had my fun gambling I went home and decided to create a disguise. I started with my beard, it would be too obvious with my pictures on the news due to my return if a vigilante showed up with the same looks. So I gave myself a classic looking mustache and sharpened my beard to look like an arrow. My sight wasn't as good at night as I would like it to me. So I got my dads’ old hunting glasses, the clear specialty glass helped my dad see on night trips. I died the glasses green to make things stand out better. I got my uniform from the island and used that to disguise myself.

Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (Russian: Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj]; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street-jargon. He was also a prominent stage- and screen-actor. Though the official Soviet cultural establishment largely ignored his work, he was remarkably popular during his lifetime, and to this day exerts significant influence on many of Russia's musicians and actors.

 

Vysotsky was born in Moscow at the 3rd Meshchanskaya St. (61/2) maternity hospital. His father, Semyon Volfovich (Vladimirovich) (1915–1997), was a colonel in the Soviet army, originally from Kiev. Vladimir's mother, Nina Maksimovna, (née Seryogina, 1912–2003) was Russian, and worked as a German language translator.[3] Vysotsky's family lived in a Moscow communal flat in harsh conditions, and had serious financial difficulties. When Vladimir was 10 months old, Nina had to return to her office in the Transcript bureau of the Soviet Ministry of Geodesy and Cartography (engaged in making German maps available for the Soviet military) so as to help her husband earn their family's living.

 

Vladimir's theatrical inclinations became obvious at an early age, and were supported by his paternal grandmother Dora Bronshteyn, a theater fan. The boy used to recite poems, standing on a chair and "flinging hair backwards, like a real poet," often using in his public speeches expressions he could hardly have heard at home. Once, at the age of two, when he had tired of the family's guests' poetry requests, he, according to his mother, sat himself under the New-year tree with a frustrated air about him and sighed: "You silly tossers! Give a child some respite!" His sense of humor was extraordinary, but often baffling for people around him. A three-year-old could jeer his father in a bathroom with unexpected poetic improvisation ("Now look what's here before us / Our goat's to shave himself!") or appall unwanted guests with some street folk song, promptly steering them away. Vysotsky remembered those first three years of his life in the autobiographical Ballad of Childhood (Баллада о детстве, 1975), one of his best-known songs.

 

As World War II broke out, Semyon Vysotsky, a military reserve officer, joined the Soviet army and went to fight the Nazis. Nina and Vladimir were evacuated to the village of Vorontsovka, in Orenburg Oblast where the boy had to spend six days a week in a kindergarten and his mother worked for twelve hours a day in a chemical factory. In 1943, both returned to their Moscow apartment at 1st Meschanskaya St., 126. In September 1945, Vladimir joined the 1st class of the 273rd Moscow Rostokino region School.

 

In December 1946, Vysotsky's parents divorced. From 1947 to 1949, Vladimir lived with Semyon Vladimirovich (then an army Major) and his Armenian wife, Yevgenya Stepanovna Liholatova, whom the boy called "aunt Zhenya", at a military base in Eberswalde in the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany (later East Germany). "We decided that our son would stay with me. Vladimir came to stay with me in January 1947, and my second wife, Yevgenia, became Vladimir's second mother for many years to come. They had much in common and liked each other, which made me really happy," Semyon Vysotsky later remembered. Here living conditions, compared to those of Nina's communal Moscow flat, were infinitely better; the family occupied the whole floor of a two-storeyed house, and the boy had a room to himself for the first time in his life. In 1949 along with his stepmother Vladimir returned to Moscow. There he joined the 5th class of the Moscow 128th School and settled at Bolshoy Karetny [ru], 15 (where they had to themselves two rooms of a four-roomed flat), with "auntie Zhenya" (who was just 28 at the time), a woman of great kindness and warmth whom he later remembered as his second mother. In 1953 Vysotsky, now much interested in theater and cinema, joined the Drama courses led by Vladimir Bogomolov.[7] "No one in my family has had anything to do with arts, no actors or directors were there among them. But my mother admired theater and from the earliest age... each and every Saturday I've been taken up with her to watch one play or the other. And all of this, it probably stayed with me," he later reminisced. The same year he received his first ever guitar, a birthday present from Nina Maksimovna; a close friend, bard and a future well-known Soviet pop lyricist Igor Kokhanovsky taught him basic chords. In 1955 Vladimir re-settled into his mother's new home at 1st Meshchanskaya, 76. In June of the same year he graduated from school with five A's.

 

In 1955, Vladimir enrolled into the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, but dropped out after just one semester to pursue an acting career. In June 1956 he joined Boris Vershilov's class at the Moscow Art Theatre Studio-Institute. It was there that he met the 3rd course student Iza Zhukova who four years later became his wife; soon the two lovers settled at the 1st Meschanskaya flat, in a common room, shielded off by a folding screen. It was also in the Studio that Vysotsky met Bulat Okudzhava for the first time, an already popular underground bard. He was even more impressed by his Russian literature teacher Andrey Sinyavsky who along with his wife often invited students to his home to stage improvised disputes and concerts. In 1958 Vysotsky's got his first Moscow Art Theatre role: that of Porfiry Petrovich in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. In 1959 he was cast in his first cinema role, that of student Petya in Vasily Ordynsky's The Yearlings (Сверстницы). On 20 June 1960, Vysotsky graduated from the MAT theater institute and joined the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre (led by Boris Ravenskikh at the time) where he spent (with intervals) almost three troubled years. These were marred by numerous administrative sanctions, due to "lack of discipline" and occasional drunken sprees which were a reaction, mainly, to the lack of serious roles and his inability to realise his artistic potential. A short stint in 1962 at the Moscow Theater of Miniatures (administered at the time by Vladimir Polyakov) ended with him being fired, officially "for a total lack of sense of humour."

 

Vysotsky's second and third films, Dima Gorin's Career and 713 Requests Permission to Land, were interesting only for the fact that in both he had to be beaten up (in the first case by Aleksandr Demyanenko). "That was the way cinema greeted me," he later jokingly remarked. In 1961, Vysotsky wrote his first ever proper song, called "Tattoo" (Татуировка), which started a long and colourful cycle of artfully stylized criminal underworld romantic stories, full of undercurrents and witty social comments. In June 1963, while shooting Penalty Kick (directed by Veniamin Dorman and starring Mikhail Pugovkin), Vysotsky used the Gorky Film Studio to record an hour-long reel-to-reel cassette of his own songs; copies of it quickly spread and the author's name became known in Moscow and elsewhere (although many of these songs were often being referred to as either "traditional" or "anonymous"). Just several months later Riga-based chess grandmaster Mikhail Tal was heard praising the author of "Bolshoy Karetny" (Большой Каретный) and Anna Akhmatova (in a conversation with Joseph Brodsky) was quoting Vysotsky's number "I was the soul of a bad company..." taking it apparently for some brilliant piece of anonymous street folklore. In October 1964 Vysotsky recorded in chronological order 48 of his own songs, his first self-made Complete works of... compilation, which boosted his popularity as a new Moscow folk underground star.

 

In 1964, director Yuri Lyubimov invited Vysotsky to join the newly created Taganka Theatre. "'I've written some songs of my own. Won't you listen?' – he asked. I agreed to listen to just one of them, expecting our meeting to last for no more than five minutes. Instead I ended up listening to him for an entire 1.5 hours," Lyubimov remembered years later of this first audition. On 19 September 1964, Vysotsky debuted in Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan as the Second God (not to count two minor roles). A month later he came on stage as a dragoon captain (Bela's father) in Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time. It was in Taganka that Vysotsky started to sing on stage; the War theme becoming prominent in his musical repertoire. In 1965 Vysotsky appeared in the experimental Poet and Theater (Поэт и Театр, February) show, based on Andrey Voznesensky's work and then Ten Days that Shook the World (after John Reed's book, April) and was commissioned by Lyubimov to write songs exclusively for Taganka's new World War II play. The Fallen and the Living (Павшие и Живые), premiered in October 1965, featured Vysotsky's "Stars" (Звёзды), "The Soldiers of Heeresgruppe Mitte" (Солдаты группы "Центр") and "Penal Battalions" (Штрафные батальоны), the striking examples of a completely new kind of a war song, never heard in his country before. As veteran screenwriter Nikolay Erdman put it (in conversation with Lyubimov), "Professionally, I can well understand how Mayakovsky or Seryozha Yesenin were doing it. How Volodya Vysotsky does it is totally beyond me." With his songs – in effect, miniature theatrical dramatizations (usually with a protagonist and full of dialogues), Vysotsky instantly achieved such level of credibility that real life former prisoners, war veterans, boxers, footballers refused to believe that the author himself had never served his time in prisons and labor camps, or fought in the War, or been a boxing/football professional. After the second of the two concerts at the Leningrad Molecular Physics institute (that was his actual debut as a solo musical performer) Vysotsky left a note for his fans in a journal which ended with words: "Now that you've heard all these songs, please, don't you make a mistake of mixing me with my characters, I am not like them at all. With love, Vysotsky, 20 April 1965, XX c." Excuses of this kind he had to make throughout his performing career. At least one of Vysotsky's song themes – that of alcoholic abuse – was worryingly autobiographical, though. By the time his breakthrough came in 1967, he'd suffered several physical breakdowns and once was sent (by Taganka's boss) to a rehabilitation clinic, a visit he on several occasions repeated since.

 

Brecht's Life of Galileo (premiered on 17 May 1966), transformed by Lyubimov into a powerful allegory of Soviet intelligentsia's set of moral and intellectual dilemmas, brought Vysotsky his first leading theater role (along with some fitness lessons: he had to perform numerous acrobatic tricks on stage). Press reaction was mixed, some reviewers disliked the actor's overt emotionalism, but it was for the first time ever that Vysotsky's name appeared in Soviet papers. Film directors now were treating him with respect. Viktor Turov's war film I Come from the Childhood where Vysotsky got his first ever "serious" (neither comical, nor villainous) role in cinema, featured two of his songs: a spontaneous piece called "When It's Cold" (Холода) and a dark, Unknown soldier theme-inspired classic "Common Graves" (На братских могилах), sung behind the screen by the legendary Mark Bernes.

 

Stanislav Govorukhin and Boris Durov's The Vertical (1967), a mountain climbing drama, starring Vysotsky (as Volodya the radioman), brought him all-round recognition and fame. Four of the numbers used in the film (including "Song of a Friend [fi]" (Песня о друге), released in 1968 by the Soviet recording industry monopolist Melodiya disc to become an unofficial hit) were written literally on the spot, nearby Elbrus, inspired by professional climbers' tales and one curious hotel bar conversation with a German guest who 25 years ago happened to climb these very mountains in a capacity of an Edelweiss division fighter. Another 1967 film, Kira Muratova's Brief Encounters featured Vysotsky as the geologist Maxim (paste-bearded again) with a now trademark off-the-cuff musical piece, a melancholy improvisation called "Things to Do" (Дела). All the while Vysotsky continued working hard at Taganka, with another important role under his belt (that of Mayakovsky or, rather one of the latter character's five different versions) in the experimental piece called Listen! (Послушайте!), and now regularly gave semi-official concerts where audiences greeted him as a cult hero.

 

In the end of 1967 Vysotsky got another pivotal theater role, that of Khlopusha [ru] in Pugachov (a play based on a poem by Sergei Yesenin), often described as one of Taganka's finest. "He put into his performance all the things that he excelled at and, on the other hand, it was Pugachyov that made him discover his own potential," – Soviet critic Natalya Krymova wrote years later. Several weeks after the premiere, infuriated by the actor's increasing unreliability triggered by worsening drinking problems, Lyubimov fired him – only to let him back again several months later (and thus begin the humiliating sacked-then-pardoned routine which continued for years). In June 1968 a Vysotsky-slagging campaign was launched in the Soviet press. First Sovetskaya Rossiya commented on the "epidemic spread of immoral, smutty songs," allegedly promoting "criminal world values, alcoholism, vice and immorality" and condemned their author for "sowing seeds of evil." Then Komsomolskaya Pravda linked Vysotsky with black market dealers selling his tapes somewhere in Siberia. Composer Dmitry Kabalevsky speaking from the Union of Soviet Composers' Committee tribune criticised the Soviet radio for giving an ideologically dubious, "low-life product" like "Song of a Friend" (Песня о друге) an unwarranted airplay. Playwright Alexander Stein who in his Last Parade play used several of Vysotsky's songs, was chastised by a Ministry of Culture official for "providing a tribune for this anti-Soviet scum." The phraseology prompted commentators in the West to make parallels between Vysotsky and Mikhail Zoschenko, another Soviet author who'd been officially labeled "scum" some 20 years ago.

 

Two of Vysotsky's 1968 films, Gennady Poloka's Intervention (premiered in May 1987) where he was cast as Brodsky, a dodgy even if highly artistic character, and Yevgeny Karelov's Two Comrades Were Serving (a gun-toting White Army officer Brusentsov who in the course of the film shoots his friend, his horse, Oleg Yankovsky's good guy character and, finally himself) – were severely censored, first of them shelved for twenty years. At least four of Vysotsky's 1968 songs, "Save Our Souls" (Спасите наши души), "The Wolfhunt" (Охота на волков), "Gypsy Variations" (Моя цыганская) and "The Steam-bath in White" (Банька по-белому), were hailed later as masterpieces. It was at this point that 'proper' love songs started to appear in Vysotsky's repertoire, documenting the beginning of his passionate love affair with French actress Marina Vlady.

 

In 1969 Vysotsky starred in two films: The Master of Taiga where he played a villainous Siberian timber-floating brigadier, and more entertaining Dangerous Tour. The latter was criticized in the Soviet press for taking a farcical approach to the subject of the Bolshevik underground activities but for a wider Soviet audience this was an important opportunity to enjoy the charismatic actor's presence on big screen. In 1970, after visiting the dislodged Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at his dacha and having a lengthy conversation with him, Vysotsky embarked on a massive and by Soviet standards dangerously commercial concert tour in Soviet Central Asia and then brought Marina Vlady to director Viktor Turov's place so as to investigate her Belarusian roots. The pair finally wed on 1 December 1970 (causing furore among the Moscow cultural and political elite) and spent a honeymoon in Georgia. This was the highly productive period for Vysotsky, resulting in numerous new songs, including the anthemic "I Hate" (Я не люблю), sentimental "Lyricale" (Лирическая) and dramatic war epics "He Didn't Return from the Battle" (Он не вернулся из боя) and "The Earth Song" (Песня о Земле) among many others.

 

In 1971 a drinking spree-related nervous breakdown brought Vysotsky to the Moscow Kashchenko clinic [ru]. By this time he has been suffering from alcoholism. Many of his songs from this period deal, either directly or metaphorically, with alcoholism and insanity. Partially recovered (due to the encouraging presence of Marina Vladi), Vysotsky embarked on a successful Ukrainian concert tour and wrote a cluster of new songs. On 29 November 1971 Taganka's Hamlet premiered, a groundbreaking Lyubimov's production with Vysotsky in the leading role, that of a lone intellectual rebel, rising to fight the cruel state machine.

 

Also in 1971 Vysotsky was invited to play the lead in The Sannikov Land, the screen adaptation of Vladimir Obruchev's science fiction,[47] which he wrote several songs for, but was suddenly dropped for the reason of his face "being too scandalously recognisable" as a state official put it. One of the songs written for the film, a doom-laden epic allegory "Capricious Horses" (Кони привередливые), became one of the singer's signature tunes. Two of Vysotsky's 1972 film roles were somewhat meditative: an anonymous American journalist in The Fourth One and the "righteous guy" von Koren in The Bad Good Man (based on Anton Chekov's Duel). The latter brought Vysotsky the Best Male Role prize at the V Taormina Film Fest. This philosophical slant rubbed off onto some of his new works of the time: "A Singer at the Microphone" (Певец у микрофона), "The Tightrope Walker" (Канатоходец), two new war songs ("We Spin the Earth", "Black Pea-Coats") and "The Grief" (Беда), a folkish girl's lament, later recorded by Marina Vladi and subsequently covered by several female performers. Popular proved to be his 1972 humorous songs: "Mishka Shifman" (Мишка Шифман), satirizing the leaving-for-Israel routine, "Victim of the Television" which ridiculed the concept of "political consciousness," and "The Honour of the Chess Crown" (Честь шахматной короны) about an ever-fearless "simple Soviet man" challenging the much feared American champion Bobby Fischer to a match.

 

In 1972 he stepped up in Soviet Estonian TV where he presented his songs and gave an interview. The name of the show was "Young Man from Taganka" (Noormees Tagankalt).

 

In April 1973 Vysotsky visited Poland and France. Predictable problems concerning the official permission were sorted after the French Communist Party leader Georges Marchais made a personal phone call to Leonid Brezhnev who, according to Marina Vlady's memoirs, rather sympathized with the stellar couple. Having found on return a potentially dangerous lawsuit brought against him (concerning some unsanctioned concerts in Siberia the year before), Vysotsky wrote a defiant letter to the Minister of Culture Pyotr Demichev. As a result, he was granted the status of a philharmonic artist, 11.5 roubles per concert now guaranteed. Still the 900 rubles fine had to be paid according to the court verdict, which was a substantial sum, considering his monthly salary at the theater was 110 rubles. That year Vysotsky wrote some thirty songs for "Alice in Wonderland," an audioplay where he himself has been given several minor roles. His best known songs of 1973 included "The Others' Track" (Чужая колея), "The Flight Interrupted" (Прерванный полёт) and "The Monument", all pondering on his achievements and legacy.

 

In 1974 Melodiya released the 7" EP, featuring four of Vysotsky's war songs ("He Never Returned From the Battle", "The New Times Song", "Common Graves", and "The Earth Song") which represented a tiny portion of his creative work, owned by millions on tape. In September of that year Vysotsky received his first state award, the Honorary Diploma of the Uzbek SSR following a tour with fellow actors from the Taganka Theatre in Uzbekistan. A year later he was granted the USSR Union of Cinematographers' membership. This meant he was not an "anti-Soviet scum" now, rather an unlikely link between the official Soviet cinema elite and the "progressive-thinking artists of the West." More films followed, among them The Only Road (a Soviet-Yugoslav joint venture, premiered on 10 January 1975 in Belgrade) and a science fiction movie The Flight of Mr. McKinley (1975). Out of nine ballads that he wrote for the latter only two have made it into the soundtrack. This was the height of his popularity, when, as described in Vlady's book about her husband, walking down the street on a summer night, one could hear Vysotsky's recognizable voice coming literally from every open window. Among the songs written at the time, were humorous "The Instruction before the Trip Abroad", lyrical "Of the Dead Pilot" and philosophical "The Strange House". In 1975 Vysotsky made his third trip to France where he rather riskily visited his former tutor (and now a celebrated dissident emigre) Andrey Sinyavsky. Artist Mikhail Shemyakin, his new Paris friend (or a "bottle-sharer", in Vladi's terms), recorded Vysotsky in his home studio. After a brief stay in England Vysotsky crossed the ocean and made his first Mexican concerts in April. Back in Moscow, there were changes at Taganka: Lyubimov went to Milan's La Scala on a contract and Anatoly Efros has been brought in, a director of radically different approach. His project, Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, caused a sensation. Critics praised Alla Demidova (as Ranevskaya) and Vysotsky (as Lopakhin) powerful interplay, some describing it as one of the most dazzling in the history of the Soviet theater. Lyubimov, who disliked the piece, accused Efros of giving his actors "the stardom malaise." The 1976 Taganka's visit to Bulgaria resulted in Vysotskys's interview there being filmed and 15 songs recorded by Balkanton record label. On return Lyubimov made a move which many thought outrageous: declaring himself "unable to work with this Mr. Vysotsky anymore" he gave the role of Hamlet to Valery Zolotukhin, the latter's best friend. That was the time, reportedly, when stressed out Vysotsky started taking amphetamines.

 

Another Belorussian voyage completed, Marina and Vladimir went for France and from there (without any official permission given, or asked for) flew to the North America. In New York Vysotsky met, among other people, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Joseph Brodsky. In a televised one-hour interview with Dan Rather he stressed he was "not a dissident, just an artist, who's never had any intentions to leave his country where people loved him and his songs." At home this unauthorized venture into the Western world bore no repercussions: by this time Soviet authorities were divided as regards the "Vysotsky controversy" up to the highest level; while Mikhail Suslov detested the bard, Brezhnev loved him to such an extent that once, while in hospital, asked him to perform live in his daughter Galina's home, listening to this concert on the telephone. In 1976 appeared "The Domes", "The Rope" and the "Medieval" cycle, including "The Ballad of Love".

 

In September Vysotsky with Taganka made a trip to Yugoslavia where Hamlet won the annual BITEF festival's first prize, and then to Hungary for a two-week concert tour. Back in Moscow Lyubimov's production of The Master & Margarita featured Vysotsky as Ivan Bezdomny; a modest role, somewhat recompensed by an important Svidrigailov slot in Yury Karyakin's take on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Vysotsky's new songs of this period include "The History of Illness" cycle concerning his health problems, humorous "Why Did the Savages Eat Captain Cook", the metaphorical "Ballad of the Truth and the Lie", as well as "Two Fates", the chilling story of a self-absorbed alcoholic hunted by two malevolent witches, his two-faced destiny. In 1977 Vysotsky's health deteriorated (heart, kidneys, liver failures, jaw infection and nervous breakdown) to such an extent that in April he found himself in Moscow clinic's reanimation center in the state of physical and mental collapse.

 

In 1977 Vysotsky made an unlikely appearance in New York City on the American television show 60 Minutes, which falsely stated that Vysotsky had spent time in the Soviet prison system, the Gulag. That year saw the release of three Vysotsky's LPs in France (including the one that had been recorded by RCA in Canada the previous year); arranged and accompanied by guitarist Kostya Kazansky, the singer for the first time ever enjoyed the relatively sophisticated musical background. In August he performed in Hollywood before members of New York City film cast and (according to Vladi) was greeted warmly by the likes of Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro. Some more concerts in Los Angeles were followed by the appearance at the French Communist paper L’Humanité annual event. In December Taganka left for France, its Hamlet (Vysotsky back in the lead) gaining fine reviews.

 

1978 started with the March–April series of concerts in Moscow and Ukraine. In May Vysotsky embarked upon a new major film project: The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (Место встречи изменить нельзя) about two detectives fighting crime in late 1940s Russia, directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. The film (premiered on 11 November 1978 on the Soviet Central TV) presented Vysotsky as Zheglov, a ruthless and charismatic cop teaching his milder partner Sharapov (actor Vladimir Konkin) his art of crime-solving. Vysotsky also became engaged in Taganka's Genre-seeking show (performing some of his own songs) and played Aleksander Blok in Anatoly Efros' The Lady Stranger (Незнакомка) radio play (premiered on air on 10 July 1979 and later released as a double LP).

 

In November 1978 Vysotsky took part in the underground censorship-defying literary project Metropolis, inspired and organized by Vasily Aksenov. In January 1979 Vysotsky again visited America with highly successful series of concerts. That was the point (according to biographer Vladimir Novikov) when a glimpse of new, clean life of a respectable international actor and performer all but made Vysotsky seriously reconsider his priorities. What followed though, was a return to the self-destructive theater and concert tours schedule, personal doctor Anatoly Fedotov now not only his companion, but part of Taganka's crew. "Who was this Anatoly? Just a man who in every possible situation would try to provide drugs. And he did provide. In such moments Volodya trusted him totally," Oksana Afanasyeva, Vysotsky's Moscow girlfriend (who was near him for most of the last year of his life and, on occasion, herself served as a drug courier) remembered. In July 1979, after a series of Central Asia concerts, Vysotsky collapsed, experienced clinical death and was resuscitated by Fedotov (who injected caffeine into the heart directly), colleague and close friend Vsevolod Abdulov helping with heart massage. In January 1980 Vysotsky asked Lyubimov for a year's leave. "Up to you, but on condition that Hamlet is yours," was the answer. The songwriting showed signs of slowing down, as Vysotsky began switching from songs to more conventional poetry. Still, of nearly 800 poems by Vysotsky only one has been published in the Soviet Union while he was alive. Not a single performance or interview was broadcast by the Soviet television in his lifetime.

 

In May 1979, being in a practice studio of the MSU Faculty of Journalism, Vysotsky recorded a video letter to American actor and film producer Warren Beatty, looking for both a personal meeting with Beatty and an opportunity to get a role in Reds film, to be produced and directed by the latter. While recording, Vysotsky made a few attempts to speak English, trying to overcome the language barrier. This video letter never reached Beatty. It was broadcast for the first time more than three decades later, on the night of 24 January 2013 (local time) by Rossiya 1 channel, along with records of TV channels of Italy, Mexico, Poland, USA and from private collections, in Vladimir Vysotsky. A letter to Warren Beatty film by Alexander Kovanovsky and Igor Rakhmanov. While recording this video, Vysotsky had a rare opportunity to perform for a camera, being still unable to do it with Soviet television.

 

On 22 January 1980, Vysotsky entered the Moscow Ostankino TV Center to record his one and only studio concert for the Soviet television. What proved to be an exhausting affair (his concentration lacking, he had to plod through several takes for each song) was premiered on the Soviet TV eight years later. The last six months of his life saw Vysotsky appearing on stage sporadically, fueled by heavy dosages of drugs and alcohol. His performances were often erratic. Occasionally Vysotsky paid visits to Sklifosofsky [ru] institute's ER unit, but would not hear of Marina Vlady's suggestions for him to take long-term rehabilitation course in a Western clinic. Yet he kept writing, mostly poetry and even prose, but songs as well. The last song he performed was the agonizing "My Sorrow, My Anguish" and his final poem, written one week prior to his death was "A Letter to Marina": "I'm less than fifty, but the time is short / By you and God protected, life and limb / I have a song or two to sing before the Lord / I have a way to make my peace with him."

 

Although several theories of the ultimate cause of the singer's death persist to this day, given what is now known about cardiovascular disease, it seems likely that by the time of his death Vysotsky had an advanced coronary condition brought about by years of tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as his grueling work schedule and the stress of the constant harassment by the government. Towards the end, most of Vysotsky's closest friends had become aware of the ominous signs and were convinced that his demise was only a matter of time. Clear evidence of this can be seen in a video ostensibly shot by the Japanese NHK channel only months before Vysotsky's death, where he appears visibly unwell, breathing heavily and slurring his speech. Accounts by Vysotsky's close friends and colleagues concerning his last hours were compiled in the book by V. Perevozchikov.

 

Vysotsky suffered from alcoholism for most of his life. Sometime around 1977, he started using amphetamines and other prescription narcotics in an attempt to counteract the debilitating hangovers and eventually to rid himself of alcohol addiction. While these attempts were partially successful, he ended up trading alcoholism for a severe drug dependency that was fast spiralling out of control. He was reduced to begging some of his close friends in the medical profession for supplies of drugs, often using his acting skills to collapse in a medical office and imitate a seizure or some other condition requiring a painkiller injection. On 25 July 1979 (a year to the day before his death) he suffered a cardiac arrest and was clinically dead for several minutes during a concert tour of Soviet Uzbekistan, after injecting himself with a wrong kind of painkiller he had previously obtained from a dentist's office.

 

Fully aware of the dangers of his condition, Vysotsky made several attempts to cure himself of his addiction. He underwent an experimental (and ultimately discredited) blood purification procedure offered by a leading drug rehabilitation specialist in Moscow. He also went to an isolated retreat in France with his wife Marina in the spring of 1980 as a way of forcefully depriving himself of any access to drugs. After these attempts failed, Vysotsky returned to Moscow to find his life in an increasingly stressful state of disarray. He had been a defendant in two criminal trials, one for a car wreck he had caused some months earlier, and one for an alleged conspiracy to sell unauthorized concert tickets (he eventually received a suspended sentence and a probation in the first case, and the charges in the second were dismissed, although several of his co-defendants were found guilty). He also unsuccessfully fought the film studio authorities for the rights to direct a movie called The Green Phaeton. Relations with his wife Marina were deteriorating, and he was torn between his loyalty to her and his love for his mistress Oksana Afanasyeva. He had also developed severe inflammation in one of his legs, making his concert performances extremely challenging.

 

In a final desperate attempt to overcome his drug addiction, partially prompted by his inability to obtain drugs through his usual channels (the authorities had imposed a strict monitoring of the medical institutions to prevent illicit drug distribution during the 1980 Olympics), he relapsed into alcohol and went on a prolonged drinking binge (apparently consuming copious amounts of champagne due to a prevalent misconception at the time that it was better than vodka at countering the effects of drug withdrawal).

 

On 3 July 1980, Vysotsky gave a performance at a suburban Moscow concert hall. One of the stage managers recalls that he looked visibly unhealthy ("gray-faced", as she puts it) and complained of not feeling too good, while another says she was surprised by his request for champagne before the start of the show, as he had always been known for completely abstaining from drink before his concerts. On 16 July Vysotsky gave his last public concert in Kaliningrad. On 18 July, Vysotsky played Hamlet for the last time at the Taganka Theatre. From around 21 July, several of his close friends were on a round-the-clock watch at his apartment, carefully monitoring his alcohol intake and hoping against all odds that his drug dependency would soon be overcome and they would then be able to bring him back from the brink. The effects of drug withdrawal were clearly getting the better of him, as he got increasingly restless, moaned and screamed in pain, and at times fell into memory lapses, failing to recognize at first some of his visitors, including his son Arkadiy. At one point, Vysotsky's personal physician A. Fedotov (the same doctor who had brought him back from clinical death a year earlier in Uzbekistan) attempted to sedate him, inadvertently causing asphyxiation from which he was barely saved. On 24 July, Vysotsky told his mother that he thought he was going to die that day, and then made similar remarks to a few of the friends present at the apartment, who begged him to stop such talk and keep his spirits up. But soon thereafter, Oksana Afanasyeva saw him clench his chest several times, which led her to suspect that he was genuinely suffering from a cardiovascular condition. She informed Fedotov of this but was told not to worry, as he was going to monitor Vysotsky's condition all night. In the evening, after drinking relatively small amounts of alcohol, the moaning and groaning Vysotsky was sedated by Fedotov, who then sat down on the couch next to him but fell asleep. Fedotov awoke in the early hours of 25 July to an unusual silence and found Vysotsky dead in his bed with his eyes wide open, apparently of a myocardial infarction, as he later certified. This was contradicted by Fedotov's colleagues, Sklifosovsky Emergency Medical Institute physicians L. Sul'povar and S. Scherbakov (who had demanded the actor's immediate hospitalization on 23 July but were allegedly rebuffed by Fedotov), who insisted that Fedotov's incompetent sedation combined with alcohol was what killed Vysotsky. An autopsy was prevented by Vysotsky's parents (who were eager to have their son's drug addiction remain secret), so the true cause of death remains unknown.

 

No official announcement of the actor's death was made, only a brief obituary appeared in the Moscow newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva, and a note informing of Vysotsky's death and cancellation of the Hamlet performance was put out at the entrance to the Taganka Theatre (the story goes that not a single ticket holder took advantage of the refund offer). Despite this, by the end of the day, millions had learned of Vysotsky's death. On 28 July, he lay in state at the Taganka Theatre. After a mourning ceremony involving an unauthorized mass gathering of unprecedented scale, Vysotsky was buried at the Vagankovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. The attendance at the Olympic events dropped noticeably on that day, as scores of spectators left to attend the funeral. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of his coffin.

 

According to author Valery Perevozchikov part of the blame for his death lay with the group of associates who surrounded him in the last years of his life. This inner circle were all people under the influence of his strong character, combined with a material interest in the large sums of money his concerts earned. This list included Valerii Yankelovich, manager of the Taganka Theatre and prime organiser of his non-sanctioned concerts; Anatoly Fedotov, his personal doctor; Vadim Tumanov, gold prospector (and personal friend) from Siberia; Oksana Afanasyeva (later Yarmolnik), his mistress the last three years of his life; Ivan Bortnik, a fellow actor; and Leonid Sul'povar, a department head at the Sklifosovski hospital who was responsible for much of the supply of drugs.

 

Vysotsky's associates had all put in efforts to supply his drug habit, which kept him going in the last years of his life. Under their influence, he was able to continue to perform all over the country, up to a week before his death. Due to illegal (i.e. non-state-sanctioned) sales of tickets and other underground methods, these concerts pulled in sums of money unimaginable in Soviet times, when almost everyone received nearly the same small salary. The payouts and gathering of money were a constant source of danger, and Yankelovich and others were needed to organise them.

 

Some money went to Vysotsky, the rest was distributed amongst this circle. At first this was a reasonable return on their efforts; however, as his addiction progressed and his body developed resistance, the frequency and amount of drugs needed to keep Vysotsky going became unmanageable. This culminated at the time of the Moscow Olympics which coincided with the last days of his life, when supplies of drugs were monitored more strictly than usual, and some of the doctors involved in supplying Vysotsky were already behind bars (normally the doctors had to account for every ampule, thus drugs were transferred to an empty container, while the patients received a substitute or placebo instead). In the last few days Vysotsky became uncontrollable, his shouting could be heard all over the apartment building on Malaya Gruzinskaya St. where he lived amongst VIP's. Several days before his death, in a state of stupor he went on a high speed drive around Moscow in an attempt to obtain drugs and alcohol – when many high-ranking people saw him. This increased the likelihood of him being forcibly admitted to the hospital, and the consequent danger to the circle supplying his habit. As his state of health declined, and it became obvious that he might die, his associates gathered to decide what to do with him. They came up with no firm decision. They did not want him admitted officially, as his drug addiction would become public and they would fall under suspicion, although some of them admitted that any ordinary person in his condition would have been admitted immediately.

 

On Vysotsky's death his associates and relatives put in much effort to prevent a post-mortem being carried out. This despite the fairly unusual circumstances: he died aged 42 under heavy sedation with an improvised cocktail of sedatives and stimulants, including the toxic chloral hydrate, provided by his personal doctor who had been supplying him with narcotics the previous three years. This doctor, being the only one present at his side when death occurred, had a few days earlier been seen to display elementary negligence in treating the sedated Vysotsky. On the night of his death, Arkadii Vysotsky (his son), who tried to visit his father in his apartment, was rudely refused entry by Yankelovich, even though there was a lack of people able to care for him. Subsequently, the Soviet police commenced a manslaughter investigation which was dropped due to the absence of evidence taken at the time of death.

 

Vysotsky's first wife was Iza Zhukova. They met in 1956, being both MAT theater institute students, lived for some time at Vysotsky's mother's flat in Moscow, after her graduation (Iza was 2 years older) spent months in different cities (her – in Kiev, then Rostov) and finally married on 25 April 1960.

 

He met his second wife Lyudmila Abramova in 1961, while shooting the film 713 Requests Permission to Land. They married in 1965 and had two sons, Arkady (born 1962) and Nikita (born 1964).

 

While still married to Lyudmila Abramova, Vysotsky began a romantic relationship with Tatyana Ivanenko, a Taganka actress, then, in 1967 fell in love with Marina Vlady, a French actress of Russian descent, who was working at Mosfilm on a joint Soviet-French production at that time. Marina had been married before and had three children, while Vladimir had two. They were married in 1969. For 10 years the two maintained a long-distance relationship as Marina compromised her career in France to spend more time in Moscow, and Vladimir's friends pulled strings for him to be allowed to travel abroad to stay with his wife. Marina eventually joined the Communist Party of France, which essentially gave her an unlimited-entry visa into the Soviet Union, and provided Vladimir with some immunity against prosecution by the government, which was becoming weary of his covertly anti-Soviet lyrics and his odds-defying popularity with the masses. The problems of his long-distance relationship with Vlady inspired several of Vysotsky's songs.

 

In the autumn of 1981 Vysotsky's first collection of poetry was officially published in the USSR, called The Nerve (Нерв). Its first edition (25,000 copies) was sold out instantly. In 1982 the second one followed (100,000), then the 3rd (1988, 200,000), followed in the 1990s by several more. The material for it was compiled by Robert Rozhdestvensky, an officially laurelled Soviet poet. Also in 1981 Yuri Lyubimov staged at Taganka a new music and poetry production called Vladimir Vysotsky which was promptly banned and officially premiered on 25 January 1989.

 

In 1982 the motion picture The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe was produced in the Soviet Union and in 1983 the movie was released to the public. Four songs by Vysotsky were featured in the film.

 

In 1986 the official Vysotsky poetic heritage committee was formed (with Robert Rozhdestvensky at the helm, theater critic Natalya Krymova being both the instigator and the organizer). Despite some opposition from the conservatives (Yegor Ligachev was the latter's political leader, Stanislav Kunyaev of Nash Sovremennik represented its literary flank) Vysotsky was rewarded posthumously with the USSR State Prize. The official formula – "for creating the character of Zheglov and artistic achievements as a singer-songwriter" was much derided from both the left and the right. In 1988 the Selected Works of... (edited by N. Krymova) compilation was published, preceded by I Will Surely Return... (Я, конечно, вернусь...) book of fellow actors' memoirs and Vysotsky's verses, some published for the first time. In 1990 two volumes of extensive The Works of... were published, financed by the late poet's father Semyon Vysotsky. Even more ambitious publication series, self-proclaimed "the first ever academical edition" (the latter assertion being dismissed by sceptics) compiled and edited by Sergey Zhiltsov, were published in Tula (1994–1998, 5 volumes), Germany (1994, 7 volumes) and Moscow (1997, 4 volumes).

 

In 1989 the official Vysotsky Museum opened in Moscow, with the magazine of its own called Vagant (edited by Sergey Zaitsev) devoted entirely to Vysotsky's legacy. In 1996 it became an independent publication and was closed in 2002.

 

In the years to come, Vysotsky's grave became a site of pilgrimage for several generations of his fans, the youngest of whom were born after his death. His tombstone also became the subject of controversy, as his widow had wished for a simple abstract slab, while his parents insisted on a realistic gilded statue. Although probably too solemn to have inspired Vysotsky himself, the statue is believed by some to be full of metaphors and symbols reminiscent of the singer's life.

 

In 1995 in Moscow the Vysotsky monument was officially opened at Strastnoy Boulevard, by the Petrovsky Gates. Among those present were the bard's parents, two of his sons, first wife Iza, renown poets Yevtushenko and Voznesensky. "Vysotsky had always been telling the truth. Only once he was wrong when he sang in one of his songs: 'They will never erect me a monument in a square like that by Petrovskye Vorota'", Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov said in his speech.[95] A further monument to Vysotsky was erected in 2014 at Rostov-on-Don.

 

In October 2004, a monument to Vysotsky was erected in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, near the Millennium Bridge. His son, Nikita Vysotsky, attended the unveiling. The statue was designed by Russian sculptor Alexander Taratinov, who also designed a monument to Alexander Pushkin in Podgorica. The bronze statue shows Vysotsky standing on a pedestal, with his one hand raised and the other holding a guitar. Next to the figure lies a bronze skull – a reference to Vysotsky's monumental lead performances in Shakespeare's Hamlet. On the pedestal the last lines from a poem of Vysotsky's, dedicated to Montenegro, are carved.

 

The Vysotsky business center & semi-skyscraper was officially opened in Yekaterinburg, in 2011. It is the tallest building in Russia outside of Moscow, has 54 floors, total height: 188.3 m (618 ft). On the third floor of the business center is the Vysotsky Museum. Behind the building is a bronze sculpture of Vladimir Vysotsky and his third wife, a French actress Marina Vlady.

 

In 2011 a controversial movie Vysotsky. Thank You For Being Alive was released, script written by his son, Nikita Vysotsky. The actor Sergey Bezrukov portrayed Vysotsky, using a combination of a mask and CGI effects. The film tells about Vysotsky's illegal underground performances, problems with KGB and drugs, and subsequent clinical death in 1979.

 

Shortly after Vysotsky's death, many Russian bards started writing songs and poems about his life and death. The best known are Yuri Vizbor's "Letter to Vysotsky" (1982) and Bulat Okudzhava's "About Volodya Vysotsky" (1980). In Poland, Jacek Kaczmarski based some of his songs on those of Vysotsky, such as his first song (1977) was based on "The Wolfhunt", and dedicated to his memory the song "Epitafium dla Włodzimierza Wysockiego" ("Epitaph for Vladimir Vysotsky").

 

Every year on Vysotsky's birthday festivals are held throughout Russia and in many communities throughout the world, especially in Europe. Vysotsky's impact in Russia is often compared to that of Wolf Biermann in Germany, Bob Dylan in America, or Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel in France.

 

The asteroid 2374 Vladvysotskij, discovered by Lyudmila Zhuravleva, was named after Vysotsky.

 

During the Annual Q&A Event Direct Line with Vladimir Putin, Alexey Venediktov asked Putin to name a street in Moscow after the singer Vladimir Vysotsky, who, though considered one of the greatest Russian artists, has no street named after him in Moscow almost 30 years after his death. Venediktov stated a Russian law that allowed the President to do so and promote a law suggestion to name a street by decree. Putin answered that he would talk to Mayor of Moscow and would solve this problem. In July 2015 former Upper and Lower Tagansky Dead-ends (Верхний и Нижний Таганские тупики) in Moscow were reorganized into Vladimir Vysotsky Street.

 

The Sata Kieli Cultural Association, [Finland], organizes the annual International Vladimir Vysotsky Festival (Vysotski Fest), where Vysotsky's singers from different countries perform in Helsinki and other Finnish cities. They sing Vysotsky in different languages and in different arrangements.

 

Two brothers and singers from Finland, Mika and Turkka Mali, over the course of their more than 30-year musical career, have translated into Finnish, recorded and on numerous occasions publicly performed songs of Vladimir Vysotsky.

 

Throughout his lengthy musical career, Jaromír Nohavica, a famed Czech singer, translated and performed numerous songs of Vladimir Vysotsky, most notably Песня о друге (Píseň o příteli – Song about a friend).

 

The Museum of Vladimir Vysotsky in Koszalin dedicated to Vladimir Vysotsky was founded by Marlena Zimna (1969–2016) in May 1994, in her apartment, in the city of Koszalin, in Poland. Since then the museum has collected over 19,500 exhibits from different countries and currently holds Vladimir Vysotsky' personal items, autographs, drawings, letters, photographs and a large library containing unique film footage, vinyl records, CDs and DVDs. A special place in the collection holds a Vladimir Vysotsky's guitar, on which he played at a concert in Casablanca in April 1976. Vladimir Vysotsky presented this guitar to Moroccan journalist Hassan El-Sayed together with an autograph (an extract from Vladimir Vysotsky's song "What Happened in Africa"), written in Russian right on the guitar.

 

In January 2023, a monument to the outstanding actor, singer and poet Vladimir Vysotsky was unveiled in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, in the square near the Rodina House of Culture. Author Vladimir Chebotarev.

 

After her husband's death, urged by her friend Simone Signoret, Marina Vlady wrote a book called The Aborted Flight about her years together with Vysotsky. The book paid tribute to Vladimir's talent and rich persona, yet was uncompromising in its depiction of his addictions and the problems that they caused in their marriage. Written in French (and published in France in 1987), it was translated into Russian in tandem by Vlady and a professional translator and came out in 1989 in the USSR. Totally credible from the specialists' point of view, the book caused controversy, among other things, by shocking revelations about the difficult father-and-son relationship (or rather, the lack of any), implying that Vysotsky-senior (while his son was alive) was deeply ashamed of him and his songs which he deemed "anti-Soviet" and reported his own son to the KGB. Also in 1989 another important book of memoirs was published in the USSR, providing a bulk of priceless material for the host of future biographers, Alla Demidova's Vladimir Vysotsky, the One I Know and Love. Among other publications of note were Valery Zolotukhin's Vysotsky's Secret (2000), a series of Valery Perevozchikov's books (His Dying Hour, The Unknown Vysotsky and others) containing detailed accounts and interviews dealing with the bard's life's major controversies (the mystery surrounding his death, the truth behind Vysotsky Sr.'s alleged KGB reports, the true nature of Vladimir Vysotsky's relations with his mother Nina's second husband Georgy Bartosh etc.), Iza Zhukova's Short Happiness for a Lifetime and the late bard's sister-in-law Irena Vysotskaya's My Brother Vysotsky. The Beginnings (both 2005).

 

A group of enthusiasts has created a non-profit project – the mobile application "Vysotsky"

 

The multifaceted talent of Vysotsky is often described by the term "bard" (бард) that Vysotsky has never been enthusiastic about. He thought of himself mainly as an actor and poet rather than a singer, and once remarked, "I do not belong to what people call bards or minstrels or whatever." With the advent of portable tape-recorders in the Soviet Union, Vysotsky's music became available to the masses in the form of home-made reel-to-reel audio tape recordings (later on cassette tapes).

 

Vysotsky accompanied himself on a Russian seven-string guitar, with a raspy voice singing ballads of love, peace, war, everyday Soviet life and of the human condition. He was largely perceived as the voice of honesty, at times sarcastically jabbing at the Soviet government, which made him a target for surveillance and threats. In France, he has been compared with Georges Brassens; in Russia, however, he was more frequently compared with Joe Dassin, partly because they were the same age and died in the same year, although their ideologies, biographies, and musical styles are very different. Vysotsky's lyrics and style greatly influenced Jacek Kaczmarski, a Polish songwriter and singer who touched on similar themes.

 

The songs – over 600 of them – were written about almost any imaginable theme. The earliest were blatnaya pesnya ("outlaw songs"). These songs were based either on the life of the common people in Moscow or on life in the crime people, sometimes in Gulag. Vysotsky slowly grew out of this phase and started singing more serious, though often satirical, songs. Many of these songs were about war. These war songs were not written to glorify war, but rather to expose the listener to the emotions of those in extreme, life-threatening situations. Most Soviet veterans would say that Vysotsky's war songs described the truth of war far more accurately than more official "patriotic" songs.

 

Nearly all of Vysotsky's songs are in the first person, although he is almost never the narrator. When singing his criminal songs, he would adopt the accent and intonation of a Moscow thief, and when singing war songs, he would sing from the point of view of a soldier. In many of his philosophical songs, he adopted the role of inanimate objects. This created some confusion about Vysotsky's background, especially during the early years when information could not be passed around very easily. Using his acting talent, the poet played his role so well that until told otherwise, many of his fans believed that he was, indeed, a criminal or war veteran. Vysotsky's father said that "War veterans thought the author of the songs to be one of them, as if he had participated in the war together with them." The same could be said about mountain climbers; on multiple occasions, Vysotsky was sent pictures of mountain climbers' graves with quotes from his lyrics etched on the tombstones.

 

Not being officially recognized as a poet and singer, Vysotsky performed wherever and whenever he could – in the theater (where he worked), at universities, in private apartments, village clubs, and in the open air. It was not unusual for him to give several concerts in one day. He used to sleep little, using the night hours to write. With few exceptions, he wasn't allowed to publish his recordings with "Melodiya", which held a monopoly on the Soviet music industry. His songs were passed on through amateur, fairly low quality recordings on vinyl discs and magnetic tape, resulting in his immense popularity. Cosmonauts even took his music on cassette into orbit.

 

Musically, virtually all of Vysotsky's songs were written in a minor key, and tended to employ from three to seven chords. Vysotsky composed his songs and played them exclusively on the Russian seven string guitar, often tuned a tone or a tone-and-a-half below the traditional Russian "Open G major" tuning. This guitar, with its specific Russian tuning, makes a slight yet notable difference in chord voicings than the standard tuned six string Spanish (classical) guitar, and it became a staple of his sound. Because Vysotsky tuned down a tone and a half, his strings had less tension, which also colored the sound.

 

His earliest songs were usually written in C minor (with the guitar tuned a tone down from DGBDGBD to CFACFAC)

 

Songs written in this key include "Stars" (Zvyozdy), "My friend left for Magadan" (Moy drug uyekhal v Magadan), and most of his "outlaw songs".

 

At around 1970, Vysotsky began writing and playing exclusively in A minor (guitar tuned to CFACFAC), which he continued doing until his death.

 

Vysotsky used his fingers instead of a pick to pluck and strum, as was the tradition with Russian guitar playing. He used a variety of finger picking and strumming techniques. One of his favorite was to play an alternating bass with his thumb as he plucked or strummed with his other fingers.

 

Often, Vysotsky would neglect to check the tuning of his guitar, which is particularly noticeable on earlier recordings. According to some accounts, Vysotsky would get upset when friends would attempt to tune his guitar, leading some to believe that he preferred to play slightly out of tune as a stylistic choice. Much of this is also attributable to the fact that a guitar that is tuned down more than 1 whole step (Vysotsky would sometimes tune as much as 2 and a half steps down) is prone to intonation problems.

 

Vysotsky had a unique singing style. He had an unusual habit of elongating consonants instead of vowels in his songs. So when a syllable is sung for a prolonged period of time, he would elongate the consonant instead of the vowel in that syllable.

 

The Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky Statue is a prominent monument located in Voronezh, Russian Federation, dedicated to the legendary Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky. This statue stands as a tribute to Vysotsky's immense contributions to Russian culture and his enduring legacy.

 

Vladimir Vysotsky was born on January 25, 1938, in Moscow, Russia. He quickly gained recognition for his unique artistic style, characterized by his powerful voice, poetic lyrics, and charismatic stage presence. Vysotsky's songs captured the essence of the Soviet era, addressing social issues, human emotions, and political satire. His music resonated deeply with the masses, and he became an iconic figure in Russian popular culture.

 

The idea of erecting a statue in Voronezh to honor Vladimir Vysotsky was conceived to commemorate his connection to the city. Vysotsky had a special relationship with Voronezh, as he spent a significant portion of his early career performing in local theaters and interacting with the local artistic community. The statue serves as a reminder of this bond and celebrates his artistic contributions.

 

The Vysotsky Statue was unveiled on November 18, 2009, in front of the Voronezh Academic Drama Theater, where Vysotsky performed numerous times. The monument was created by renowned Russian sculptor Grigory Pototsky. Standing at approximately 5 meters tall, the bronze statue captures Vysotsky in a dynamic pose, holding a guitar and singing passionately.

 

The sculpture depicts Vysotsky in mid-performance, capturing his energy and intensity on stage. The attention to detail in the statue is remarkable, with intricate facial features, flowing hair, and realistic clothing. The sculptor aimed to convey Vysotsky's passion and charisma through the artwork, and the statue successfully embodies these qualities.

 

The location of the statue, in front of the Voronezh Academic Drama Theater, is significant. It symbolizes Vysotsky's strong ties to the theater and his impact on the performing arts. The statue serves as a meeting point for admirers of Vysotsky's work, attracting locals and tourists alike. It has become an iconic landmark in Voronezh, attracting visitors who come to pay their respects and celebrate Vysotsky's artistic legacy.

 

The statue's unveiling was accompanied by a grand ceremony, attended by government officials, artists, and Vysotsky's fans. The event highlighted the significance of Vysotsky's artistic contributions and celebrated his enduring influen

Mood-boosting activity - The active ingredient in St John’s Wort is hypericin, and this compound is thought to have the ability to raise a slightly low mood

 

Anxiety – St John’s Wort is thought to have anxiolytic and sedative actions, which can benefit people suffering from the occasional bout of mild anxiety or stress

 

The flowers and leaves of St. John's wort contain active ingredients such as hyperforin. St. John's wort is available as a supplement in teas, tablets, liquids and topical preparations.

 

People use St. John's wort to treat depression and menopausal symptoms.

 

So there you have it!

It doesn't actually say anywhere whether one should use the garden plant or its wild relative!

 

It's also apparently used in witchcraft spells, to keep witches away, as in ..

 

"Trefoil, Vervain, St John's Wort Dill

Hinder Witches of their will"

 

This flower is filled with ants and other insects!

ツライとき、悲しいとき、嬉しいとき、

幸せなとき、 どんな気持ちの時でも、癒されたい。

そんな時に、かならず来る海があります。

波の音は、心を沈めてくれるまるで鎮静剤のよう。

    

When painful, sad time, happy time, When happy, even when you feel, be healed.

At such times, the sea has always come.

The sound of the waves, like me, as a sedative heart sank.

SN/NC: Erythrina Falcata, Syn. & Var. E. Mulungu, E. Fusca, E. Crista-galli, E. Poepigiana, E. Glauca, Fabaceae Family

 

Several Erythrina tree species are used by indigenous peoples in the Amazon as medicines, insecticides and fish poisons. Tinctures and decoctions made from the leaves or barks of Mulungu are often used in Brazilian traditional medicine as a sedative, to calm an overexcited nervous system, to lower blood pressure and for insomnia and depression.

Commercial preparations of Mulungu are available in Brazilian drugstores, but is not very widely known in North America and almost unknown in Europe; mostly appearing as an ingredient in only a few herbal formulas for anxiety or depression. Erythrinas are composed of so many different species and all of them carry the red, orange or coral flowers as their main characteristic. And of course, they look so beautiful giving life to the woods. Popular names: Brazilian Coral Tree, Mulungu, Ahuejote

 

Várias espécies de árvores Eritrinas são usadas por povos indígenas na Amazônia como remédios, inseticidas e venenos para peixes. Tinturas e decocções feitas com folhas ou cascas de Mulungu (Eritrina) são frequentemente usadas na medicina tradicional brasileira como sedativo, para acalmar um sistema nervoso superexcitado, para baixar a pressão sanguínea e para insônia e depressão.

Preparações comerciais de Mulungu (Eritrina) estão disponíveis nas farmácias brasileiras, mas não são muito conhecidas na América do Norte e quase desconhecidas na Europa; principalmente aparecendo como um ingrediente em apenas algumas fórmulas à base de plantas para ansiedade ou depressão. As Eritrinas são compostas por tantas espécies diferentes e todas elas carregam como característica principal as flores vermelhas, alaranjadas ou corais. E claro, ficam tão lindas dando vida à mata.

 

Los pueblos indígenas de la Amazonía utilizan varias especies de árboles de Erythrina como medicinas, insecticidas y venenos para peces. Las tinturas y decocciones hechas de las hojas o cortezas de Mulungu se usan a menudo en la medicina tradicional brasileña como sedantes, para calmar un sistema nervioso sobreexcitado, para bajar la presión arterial y para el insomnio y la depresión.

Las preparaciones comerciales de Mulungu están disponibles en las farmacias brasileñas, pero no son muy conocidas en América del Norte y casi desconocidas en Europa; apareciendo principalmente como ingrediente en solo unas pocas fórmulas a base de hierbas para la ansiedad o la depresión. Las Erythrinas están compuestas por tantas especies diferentes y todas ellas llevan como principal característica las flores rojas, anaranjadas o coralinas. Y por supuesto, se ven tan hermosos dando vida al bosque.

 

Plusieurs espèces d'arbres Erythrina sont utilisées par les peuples autochtones d'Amazonie comme médicaments, insecticides et poisons pour les poissons. Les teintures et décoctions à base de feuilles ou d'écorces de Mulungu sont souvent utilisées dans la médecine traditionnelle brésilienne comme sédatif, pour calmer un système nerveux surexcité, pour abaisser la tension artérielle et pour l'insomnie et la dépression.

Des préparations commerciales de Mulungu sont disponibles dans les pharmacies brésiliennes, mais elles ne sont pas très connues en Amérique du Nord et presque inconnues en Europe ; apparaissant principalement comme ingrédient dans seulement quelques formules à base de plantes pour l'anxiété ou la dépression. Les érythrines sont composées de tant d'espèces différentes et toutes portent les fleurs rouges, oranges ou corail comme principale caractéristique. Et bien sûr, ils sont si beaux en donnant vie aux bois.

 

Verschillende Erythrina-boomsoorten worden door inheemse volkeren in het Amazonegebied gebruikt als medicijnen, insecticiden en visgif. Tincturen en afkooksels gemaakt van de bladeren of blaffen van Mulungu worden in de traditionele Braziliaanse geneeskunde vaak gebruikt als kalmerend middel, om een overprikkeld zenuwstelsel te kalmeren, om de bloeddruk te verlagen en voor slapeloosheid en depressie.

Commerciële bereidingen van Mulungu zijn verkrijgbaar in Braziliaanse drogisterijen, maar zijn niet erg bekend in Noord-Amerika en vrijwel onbekend in Europa; komt meestal voor als ingrediënt in slechts een paar kruidenformules voor angst of depressie. Erythrina's zijn samengesteld uit zoveel verschillende soorten en ze dragen allemaal de rode, oranje of koraalkleurige bloemen als hun belangrijkste kenmerk. En natuurlijk zien ze er zo mooi uit om het bos leven in te blazen.

 

Diverse specie di alberi di Erythrina sono utilizzate dalle popolazioni indigene dell'Amazzonia come medicinali, insetticidi e veleni per i pesci. Tinture e decotti ricavati dalle foglie o dalle cortecce di Mulungu sono spesso usati nella medicina tradizionale brasiliana come sedativo, per calmare un sistema nervoso sovraeccitato, per abbassare la pressione sanguigna e per l'insonnia e la depressione.

Preparazioni commerciali di Mulungu sono disponibili nelle farmacie brasiliane, ma è poco conosciuto in Nord America e quasi sconosciuto in Europa; per lo più appare come ingrediente solo in alcune formule a base di erbe per l'ansia o la depressione. Le Erythrinas sono composte da tantissime specie diverse e tutte portano come caratteristica principale i fiori rossi, arancioni o corallo. E, naturalmente, sono così belli che danno vita ai boschi.

 

Mehrere Erythrina-Baumarten werden von indigenen Völkern im Amazonasgebiet als Arzneimittel, Insektizide und Fischgifte verwendet. Tinkturen und Abkochungen aus den Blättern oder Rinden von Mulungu werden in der traditionellen brasilianischen Medizin häufig als Beruhigungsmittel, zur Beruhigung eines überreizten Nervensystems, zur Senkung des Blutdrucks sowie bei Schlaflosigkeit und Depressionen eingesetzt.

Kommerzielle Präparate von Mulungu sind in brasilianischen Drogerien erhältlich, in Nordamerika jedoch nicht sehr bekannt und in Europa nahezu unbekannt; kommt meist als Zutat in nur wenigen Kräuterformeln gegen Angstzustände oder Depressionen vor. Erythrinas bestehen aus sehr vielen verschiedenen Arten und alle tragen als Hauptmerkmal die roten, orangefarbenen oder korallenroten Blüten. Und natürlich sehen sie so schön aus, dass sie dem Wald Leben einhauchen.

 

تستخدم الشعوب الأصلية في منطقة الأمازون عدة أنواع من أشجار الإريثرينا كأدوية ومبيدات حشرية وسموم أسماك. غالبًا ما تستخدم الصبغات والاستخلاصات المصنوعة من أوراق أو لحاء مولونجو في الطب التقليدي البرازيلي كمسكن ، لتهدئة الجهاز العصبي المفرط ، ولخفض ضغط الدم وللأرق والاكتئاب.

تتوفر المستحضرات التجارية لـ Mulungu في الصيدليات البرازيلية ، ولكنها غير معروفة على نطاق واسع في أمريكا الشمالية وغير معروفة تقريبًا في أوروبا ؛ يظهر في الغالب كعنصر في عدد قليل من التركيبات العشبية للقلق أو الاكتئاب. تتكون Erythrinas من العديد من الأنواع المختلفة وكلها تحمل الزهور الحمراء أو البرتقالية أو المرجانية باعتبارها السمة الرئيسية لها. وبالطبع ، تبدو جميلة جدًا وهي تعطي الحياة للغابات.

 

いくつかのエリスリナの樹種は、アマゾンの先住民族によって薬、殺虫剤、魚毒として使用されています。ムルングの葉や樹皮から作られるチンキ剤や煎じ薬は、ブラジルの伝統医学で鎮静剤として、過度に興奮した神経系を落ち着かせ、血圧を下げ、不眠症やうつ病によく使用されます。

ムルングの市販製剤はブラジルのドラッグストアで入手できますが、北米ではあまり知られておらず、ヨーロッパでもほとんど知られていません。ほとんどの場合、不安やうつ病のためのほんの数種類のハーブ処方に成分として含まれています。エリスリナは非常に多くの異なる種で構成されており、そのすべてが赤、オレンジ、またはサンゴの花を主な特徴としています。そしてもちろん、森に命を吹き込んでいる姿はとても美しいです。

Theme Song: Where Eagles Have Been by Wolfmother

 

Nothing's quite what it seems in the City of Dreams

You say it's not the real world

It seems so real to me

And I know that we're never turning back

Can you see what I see, girl?

 

Day 7 - Fourth Dream: The Tragedy of a Tormentor's Sired One

 

Tears still pooled in my eyes as the last dream faded into the back void of darkness. I held back sniffling, breathing in deeply, then sighing out slowly as I tried to regain my composure. My heart trembled in my chest as I became anxious of the next dream that I was sure soon to come. There was some hope I would not to have to revisit my fourth Felix, since I spent much time in my previous life trying to purge her from my memory. Not that all was bad with her, but...

 

Just then, I felt it come to me again - that state of dreaming. I felt myself being teleported once more.

 

"Oh shit, what now?"

 

I blinked my eyes and found that my fourth Felix was nowhere to be found. Instead, I saw a figure of a female placed upright in a chair at the end of a table. Rope was tied around her waist up to her shoulders. Gauze was tied to her ankles, around the feet of the chair that held her captive.

 

Is that? No..., it can't be, can it?

 

In my hand was a bottle of smelling salt that I put below the girl's nose for her to get a whiff of. It caused her to regain consciousness. She stirred, slowly at first, looking pained, then more so came to. Her eyes flicked open like searchlights, scanning the room. She paused on the hairs, the dim light, and the dirty walls, but then fixated on my ears and looked down at my tail. She shook her head quickly and started struggling to try and free herself.

 

A grin came to my face through my mask. "Can you tell who I am, soldier?"

 

The girl, dressed in the United Aerospace Corporation's private standard military outfit, shook her head from side to side. She looked frightened. Her eyes widened with fear. It appeared she didn't notice anything else but my ears and tail that were showing at that moment, and remained fixated on me.

 

My eyes glimmered gladly at her recognition of my feline traits. "Good, for now..." I came up close to her and pushed the chair she was sitting in. It fell backwards with a cracking sound as it hit the hard pavement of the sewer. Her helmet hit the floor with a bang, then fell off, wobbling away and out of reach. Her earpiece fell out as well, and her head whipped back. She gasped in sudden pain and looked at me disoriented.

 

I sensed her confusion. "What, soldier, you don't understand why you're here, hmm?"

 

She shook her head slowly from side to side, twice, and stared up at me from her position on the floor.

 

Leaning down, I crouched in front of her. "It's because you've been messing with my family, that's why." I gave a glare at her, with a soft, yet angry growl.

 

The military girl began to realize what family of cats I meant. She furiously tried to pull free again from the ropes, but they wouldn't give.

 

I laughed, almost insanely, at her vain struggles, then hissed at her. "Yesss, soldier," I then growled through my words in a gravel tone, "If you're guessing the Catwalkers, then you are very right indeed."

 

The girl quivered in fright within her bondage. It caused her chair to shake on the floor. Her eyes were wide-opened, and her breathing picked up. She shook her head in desperation, trying to negate what all happened.

 

Watching her efforts to break free from the rope and process what was happening, I asked, "What's wrong soldier, you showing your fear?"

 

She shook her head no, but paused. Though looking away and not responding, she still trembled.

 

Leaning down, I approached her in a feral crawl. My masked face was close enough to hers that she could feel the warm growling breath breathe out my mask, "Good." I brought my left hand to her chin, forcing her to look me straight in my eyes. "A soldier is trained to show no fear, is that not so?"

 

Her breathing picked up pace, faster and faster. She started bucking against the restraints, desperate to get away from me. I purred in her face as she shook and squirmed.

 

Sighing, I brushed my unsheathed claws over her cheek. "You don't seem to be a very solid soldier. You show your fear too easily. Are you really all that certain a soldier is what you're supposed to be?"

 

The soldier girl forced herself to calm down. Looking directly at her captor, she nodded. Although, her face looked uncertain.

 

My eyes pierced through hers, sensing her uncertainty. "Your body gestures say 'yes,' but your eyes..., they are saying something else." I flashed a fierce look into her eyes. "Are you sure you want to be a soldier? Answer me!" I barked out, though in a feline growl, as if a Leutenant or General.

 

She nodded hurriedly. Yet her captor's message sank in. Her eyes had a dead, haunted look of failure.

 

I saw through her eyes again, shaking my head slowly. Pulling her up by her sides firmly and not too gentle, I placed and her and her chair in an upright position. Then I looked her in the eyes again with a sigh, which came out in a slight hiss. "Don't you know that cats can sense fears and other emotions?" I said this as matter of fact to her, even if the truth of it might not be known for certain.

 

She shrugged, then gestured with her chin toward her vest's top chest pocket. Being unable to open it with her teeth, she signaled for me to open it.

 

Opening the pouch, I looked over what was inside. "Identification pieces hmm?" I couldn't bear to say 'dog tags' myself. "Are these relics of yours, of your family history?"

 

The soldier girl nodded for me to read them. And so I did:

 

Kichiro Ashbourne. Captain. It was dated from the 3rd Global War.

Daisuke Ashbourne, USMC, Colonel. It pre-dated WWIII

Kyle Ashbourne, USMC, Major. It pre-dated WWIII and Daisuke

 

"Ah, a family of soldiers." I tried to look disinterested, "A fairly long line for a human I suppose." I then sighed as a sudden sorrowful reminiscent caught me. "I don't have hardly anything but memories of my family, from so long ago, nearly predating World War II."

 

The captive sighed as well in slight relief. She came to a realization that her captor didn't seem too intent on goring her, for the moment at least. She sulked glumly as she passively looked at the dog tags her abductor held in his hands.

 

Sitting down, I mrred and took off my mask. "No more shadows for now, soldier. But I ask you this: How old do you think I am?"

 

After a few moments of being paused in thought, she tapped her left foot 3 times, then her right foot once after a few seconds' pause.

 

My ears perked at the sounding of her taps. "Do you guess 31 years of age?"

 

She gave an affirmative glance and gesture.

 

"Good enough guess." I chuffed in slight humor. "I'm almost flattered you'd think me so young. Though I say I am 28 in human years, my actual age is much older than even your generational line in these tags here." I showed her them, and then placed them back in her pocket.

 

The girl cocked her head, listening with a curious intrigue.

 

I laughed at her look.

 

"You see, I am nearly 196 years of age in your human years. I have seen those wars or your fathers, and grandfathers, maybe even your great grandfathers. Not that I care. You live long enough, you see plenty and live through plenty." I sighed, "But even still, you never forget your childhood. And sadly, the tragedies are often remembered more vividly than the good times."

 

Her eyes locked on me. In addition to her fearfulness, there was an undercurrent of surprise and sympathy.

 

I continued to sense her fear and, strangely, felt those other emotions that I had not quite expected her to have. "You can relax soldier." I chuckled, "I am not a vampire. I just have a natural long life - or the full nine lives, of nearly a millennium that I can live."

 

Reaching down, the soldier girl tried to pull her sharpie out of her vest with her teeth.

 

I looked towards her. "You want to write something, soldier?"

 

She half-nodded. Pinning the pen in her teeth, she wrote on the table. "Aew?"

 

I quirked at the strange writing, then worded out what she was trying to spell. "How what?" I looked at the girl with caution. My eyes firmly gazed upon her to hold her attention to my words. "If I loosen the upper ropes to let loose your hands to write, can I trust you to not do anything stupid?"

 

She thinks, then wiggled her right leg, which still had her pistol.

 

I nodded, and got up to take her pistol out and frisked her for any other potential weapons. Looking over the collection on the table, there was found two grenades, the pistol, a couple spare clips, a combat knife, and a set of handcuffs.

 

"Well armed," I grinned with a bit of a smirk, "and seems you have a few tricks up your sleeve soldier."

 

Once the rope was loosened enough around her chest, she slipped one arm free within several minutes of work. Tightening the ropes so they were once again snug around her chest, I moved the arsenal of her private stash further down the table out of her reach. Giving her back her pen with a pad to write on I said, "Ok, now write what you have to say."

 

She jotted on the edge of the legal pad. "How are you that old?"

 

To answer, I began to tell some of my life's story:

 

"I am not a cat. That is, I'm not like the breed you see in this city. Not like the most common one of this new generation, that is. I was born almost 30 years before the experiments began that developed this breed you see today. You see, I was born of a 'pure' breed. It went by many names, such as werecats, or leopard men. But we called ourselves Feles by our traditional native tongue."

 

I continued on to tell of the early development of the Feles - their ancient history, and finally, my own tragic story about my personal life. How my village was destroyed, and how I saw the death of my parents at the hands of humans. After finishing the telling the story, I tied her arm back up and sedated her with enough tranquilizer to keep her out until I returned the next day.

 

On the next day, I walked into the room with my mask still on. My figure at first entry was that of a shadow with glowing golden eyes.

 

The girl was waking up when I came in. Sudden movement brought her quickly to a nervous focus. Her eyes jumped around the room, trying to figure out if anything had changed since last night. But no, nothing yet. She sighed, relieved, and slumped against the rope that held her tight within her chair. It forced her to control her breathing in an attempt to stave off any visible signs of nervousness. She let out a rasping cough and looked up at the sound of the door opening. After twice trembling, she settled down.

 

I walked up closer, the mask still on. My familiar voice proceeded from the darkness. "Did you sleep well soldier?"

 

She shrugged noncommittally, then coughed dryly again.

 

I took off my mask, smirked. "Yeah, I didn't figure on the mildew and all. But my family for some reason keeps releasing you without trying to figure out why you keep coming back." I shook my head and sighed about such foolishness. Bringing out a bottle with pills in it, I put a couple of them before her lips. "Here swallow these."

 

She nibbled them out of my palm like a horse eating an apple.

 

I smiled. "Good. It seems you trust me more then." I then shrugged with a chuckle. "Either way, it's nothing poisonous. Just something to help with the allergens down here."

 

Finishing the pills, the soldier girl looked up at me. She pointed at the legal pad and sharpie with her chin. I nodded, and loosened the ropes so she could free her writing hand. "So you have something to say, or 'write' that is?"

 

She nodded back to me gratefully, then reached over to the pad and wrote two words:

 

WATER PLEASE

 

I agreed to the request and got out my flask that I brought with me while patrolling the rooftops. "You're in luck. I refilled this with water recently, and not," I coughed to clear my throat, "my usual drink to pass the night." The flask, though, still had a hint of alcohol as it was brought down to her lips to drink.

 

Drinking from the flask, she emptied the whole thing in moments. Finished refreshing herself, she put it back on the table and picked up the pen again.

 

So.... She paused, the pen tip hovering above the paper, then completed the thought of her main concern, am I going to be killed?

 

I read what she wrote, then shook my head with. "I'll admit, soldier, I wanted to kill you the very first time you came up to the Den."

 

The girl looked down unhappily.

 

Oh. She paused. Could I write some letters before I die, then?

 

I shook my head again. "You didn't hear me correctly, soldier. I said I wanted to kill you, not that I still do."

 

She perked up and up looked at me. Her brow furrowed.

 

"You look at me confused. " I grinned. "Who's the human soldier that's afraid of cats and yet still manages to keep coming up to the Den?"

 

The girl shook her head at her own illogical behavior and picked up the pen.

 

1st time: wasn't scared of cats.

2nd time: wasn't scared of cats.

3rd time: wasn't lucid.

4th time: ... no offense, but Sgt. McCallen scares me more than all of you.

 

"Is that so soldier?" I laughed, then murred, "But here's the problem. I can't take you back to the Den as you are. 'Cause I'm sure my family is fed up with you. And, I'm assuming you don't want to go back to military base and be a soldier?"

 

She nodded understandingly at the first one, then shrugged after the second one. Then she jotted down:

 

I don't even know anymore...

 

"Well, I don't want to kill you..., " I murred some more with a smirk, "And I don't really see sending you back to the military base yet again as an option." I turned around and pondered a bit by the wall, then grinned. "I think I know what to do with you now." Looking back at her, I gave a wider grin.

 

The soldier girl looked nervously at me. That she was uncertain what my grin meant would have been an understatement. She grabbed the legal pad, drew a giant question mark that filled the whole page, then clutched it to her chest like a shield.

 

I continued to grin and looked at her as I spoke. "You came up to the Den the first night speaking of a certain distaste for cats. I hadn't told you until last night about what humans had done to my village and family - killing my mother and father viciously as mere four legged animals for trophy and experimentation...."

 

Her breath she drew sharply. She shook her head from side to side as if doing so could change what she was hearing. Her eyes scanned the table, trying to see where her pistol was.

 

I shook my head as I took off the gloves I used for combat. "I already stored your weapons out of reach soldier. You wouldn't think a ninja would be so dumb to leave such things lying around, now would you?" I took out a vial and a syringe.

 

The girl tried unsuccessfully to pull free of the chair, then raised her single fist for a last stand. Of course, tied to a chair, and against an enemy with superior strength, speed, and training, it didn't make for such a great finale for her.

 

After taking the fluid in the vial and injecting it into the syringe, I placed the empty glass on the table and again came close to her. Smiling at her, I replied "It will be easier, and safer for you to let me tie your arms back up, but, " keeping my own hands in a defensive position, I added, "If you would rather make it harder, I'll be ready."

 

She looked up at me sadly, then grabbed the sharpie.

 

Will it hurt? and, Is it only vengeance?

 

I shrugged, "The needle may sting, but I don't know what your reaction will be."

 

She looked at me scared. Poison?

 

I grasped her arm, quickly, before she could put up a fight. Pushing her arm back down to her side, I tied the rope around her again. I laughed, "Not poison. Not to me, anyways. But your scientists likely would call it a virus or parasite. Though it is neither." I injected the fluid into her neck. It was mixed with my DNA, and a sedative to keep whoever was injected with it asleep through the first stage of the changes.

 

The girl looked up at me with pleading eyes, then the needle briefly, then back to me. Her actions began slowing down due to the sedative.

 

Taking the syringe out, I responded with a chuckle. "Sleep tight soldier. You'll be in for a surprise when you wake up."

 

She tugged against the restraints, and tried to escape. However, she soon slumped forward unconscious.

 

Later, when she regained consciousness - evidenced by a change in her breathing, but was yet to open her eyes. I walked back in. My flask was refilled, as well as her own bottle I found on her earlier. I also brought sushi and fresh tuna from the sushi bar, putting it on the table in front of her. I grinned, noticing her breathing and said, "Good, it didn't kill you soldier."

 

She looked up at me miserably. Not being certain what the injection did to her, she tried to figure out what had changed since the previous night.

 

Noticing her stare, I pouted. "Aww, is that any way to look at the cat that brought you some food?" I placed the sushi in front of her, as well as a slab of the tuna and watched to see what her first reactions might be.

 

It seemed at first that maybe the girl didn't like tuna, since she looked at it somewhat apprehensively. After giving it a sniff, and with surprising speed, she lunged forward in her chair to snatch up a piece of sushi with her teeth, gulping it down.

 

I chuckled at her reaction. "Interesting." I tried to perceive if feline fangs had grown in and shrugged. "Oh well, if they haven't formed now, they likely will sooner or later." Smiling, I looked at the girl. "A good meal, eh soldier?"

 

Lunging again, she gulped down another piece of sushi, then stopped, choking on it. She looked up at me in horror and shook her head rapidly. It appeared she thought I could undo what had already been started.

 

I shook my head back, "Nah uh, soldier. You know what they say, 'What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger!'" I laughed, and then realized the ropes may not be strong enough to hold her. I murred before finding some chain links in the corner, and some spare cuffs - presumably from some human 'party' down here some time ago likely - , and then fastened the chains around her and cuffed her legs together. "This is only for safety measure ki..., uhm, I mean soldier," I coughed, then chuckled at almost calling her a kitten. In a second thought of precaution, I saw her handcuffs, yanked them from her belt and fastened them on her wrists. "Oh those come in handy, now, don't they soldier?"

 

The soldier girl turned in the chair so that she was looking at her captor over the back of her chair. Tears were sliding down her face again, and she appeared utterly destroyed. I slowly brought my face to hers, brushing her cheek lightly with my whiskers and grinned as I saw little wiry buds beginning to show. "Ah yes, you'll have a set of whiskers like mine soon as well soldier." I then purred my warm breath on her before pulling my face back.

 

She turned around dejectedly, and looked at the remains of the tuna in front of her. I murred with a frown. "Awws, is that any way to be, especially toward your sire?" I then purred in her human ear and said in a whisper, "Those will soon shrivel up, to be replaced with cute pointy ones on your head."

 

The girl leaned her head against my side, still crying, unable to help it. I crouched down. Fatherly like instincts kicked in as I hugged her. My chest purred soothingly. "Now, now. I told you I wasn't going to kill you..."

 

She rested her head on my shoulder. I felt her chest stop heaving as strongly as she calmed down, pressed against me as tightly as she can be.

 

I continued my soft purring, smiling. "See? It isn't so bad being a cat, hmmm?"

 

Shrugging, she then opened her mouth to say something. It came out sounding like a combination of a meow and a purring.

 

I chuckled a bit. "Hmmm... Heh, sounds like you might be feral for a bit." I shrugged. "No bother, your human mute stage was not much different..., besides the mewing and purring your doing now."

 

The girl purred something, as if trying to communicate. I purred back, instinctively. She purred again, desolately - evoking visions of loneliness, calming down a little.

 

Grooming her hair, I felt tiny bumps, likely where the cat ears were growing in. I sighed, through my comforting purrs, "Don't worry, even if the Pride rejects you, you will always be a part of my personal family, my sired Feles." I grinned with a mew.

 

She seemed to calm down, and the crying stopped spreading tears all over my shoulder. She lifted her head up and looked at me with a grin, then purred gratefully.

 

I smiled, giving a light nip to her nose, "See? Being a cat isn't so bad..."

 

She grinned and shrugged, then purred.

 

Holding her head to my chest, I looked at her like a father seeing his newborn child. I continued to purr, watching her intently, then sighed, with a murr. " I can't unchain you yet though..." I pouted, tugging on some of the chains.

 

She nodded understandingly, then murred at the remains of the tuna and licked her lips contentedly.

 

I smiled and then took a piece of sushi, bringing it down towards her lips. She grabbed it happily between her teeth and munched it down. I mewed happily, "That's right my sired one, eat up. You'll need all the energy you can get for your changes."

 

And so was born my Sired Feles. Satomi Ashbourne, as I mentioned in the pondering of the previous dream. It was probably one of my most favorite experiences roleplaying in AW. Just as interesting was a reaction of an old friend of mine at hearing the news of my making a sire as noted in the transcript of the general chat log, as I remember it from that night:

 

[19:28] You: ((hey Dui xD))

[19:28] : Satomi Ashbourne OOC : Hi Dui! (I don't think you'll have any more problems with me any more :)

[19:29] Dui Zhang: ((oh, there you are))

[19:29] Dui Zhang: ((is Ioh about to kill you, or has he charmed you into submission?))

[19:29] : Satomi Ashbourne OOC : I'M GROWING EARS!! AND WHISKERS!!

[19:30] You: ((well... I sired her, sorta, grafted her with my DNA <.<))

[19:31] Dui Zhang: ((*headsmacks* This ought to be interesting))

[19:32] You: (hehe, haven't told Tobers yet either xD))

[19:32] : Satomi Ashbourne OOC : it's amusing, how many connotations "interesting" has in the English language :P

[19:32] Dui Zhang: ((going to lie down now... head is spinning))

[19:32] You: ((hehe))

 

That roleplay came to change many things, and would bring about my promotion in the Pride to Tormentor. It also brought about some copy-cat RP scenarios that tried to do similar things as I had done that night with Satomi. That was one drawback, as I would have rather hoped people would consider being more creative. But hey, I can at least say I caused a trend in that city, for what it's worth. Not that I cared about setting any. I just wanted to tell the story, and have amazing RP with friends that I could trust. At least thought I could then anyways....

 

Oh fine, I'll admit it, I wanted to build a family too. And I almost had it then with Aspira and Satomi. Although, it wasn't going to be an easy road, as shown in the aftermath. For you see, capturing a girl serving in the military doesn't go without an eventual rescue by the military. It seemed strange, then, being that after her being made a cat, it essentially made Satomi a fugitive. If nothing, the military compound's scientists could have decided to try and change her back to human, and all my efforts would have been lost. But, instead, Satomi was released, and soon I had to pick her up and find a place for her. As will be noted, the Pride was not going to be able to help, for obvious reasons. But still, I sired Satomi, and she became someone for me to protect, then, both from the military and my own family in the city.

 

So here I was on a rooftop, waiting to hear back from Aspira. Someone walked onto the roof and tapped my shoulder as I waited. I turned around, then looked up, somewhat distracted in thought, "Oh hey Shadey."

 

Aspira then landed on the roof softly still speaking into her cellphone. "Ok under the pier?"

 

Seeing Aspira, I sighed, and said to her, "Yeah, that was the initial plan."

 

Shadey waved to Aspira and said to me "Can you do me a favor?"

 

Aspira tilted her head. "So under the pier Ioh?"

 

I blinked, "What do you mean? It's too late..." I then sighed, still feeling I failed Satomi and that she was still in the hands of the military.

 

Shadey tilted her head to the side curiously.

 

Aspira sighed and shook her head. "She wants to meet us, and told me to ask you..." She held her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.

 

I murred, realizing Shadey's not in the know. I then blinked again, "Who?" Then paused, "You mean..." I looked at Aspira with hopeful eyes.

 

Shadey sighed shaking her head. "Well do me a favor and tell Tober or Linds I need to talk to them. I have places I need to go, but they know how to get in touch with me."

 

Aspira nodded her head. "Yes. The pier or else where? I have to give an answer."

 

I nodded, "If I see them, I'll tell them Shades." I looked to Aspira, "But how... where is she?"

 

Aspira looked to Shadey. "We will make sure Ioh doesn't forget to let them know." She gave her a small smile, her hand still over the phone.

 

Shadey smiled at them and says "Ok, thanks. I gotta run kitties, have fun!"

 

I nodded and waved as Shadey departed from the rooftop.

 

Aspira gave a 'just give me an answer' look to Ioh. "It doesn't matter I just need a meeting place."

 

"Has she told you what happened or anything?"

 

She shook her head. "Ioh. I need a meeting place. Please." She begged me softly, still covering the PDA in her hand.

 

"Well, alright. Meet on the pier, and If you don't hear anything from me in about 15 to 20 minutes, call for backup. I'm going to check the Med Center."

 

"NO IOH! Listen to me. We are going to the pier." Aspira uncovered the phone and spoke into it. "The pier. Meet us, but be careful!"

 

I blinked. "Are you talking with her?"

 

Aspira sighed and hung her head. "Yes Ioh. I was hinting that to you when Shadey was here." Her cheeks blushed as she sighed softly. She then spoke again into the phone. "Call if there's trouble!"

 

I nodded, showing myself shaken up for the first time. "I’m sorry Kitten, just been a ... long day...." I hugged her tightly, then whispered, "Thank you," in her ear. I then released her from the hug and said, "Let's go."

 

Aspira flipped her PDA closed and hugged Ioh. When she stopped, she looked at her invisible watch. "I waited for over an hour and went looking for you... let's go." She turned and leaped off the roof.

 

On the ground, I walked up to Aspira, who was watching me in anticipation. She whispered, "I think it will be safer out of sight, not in so open view of up there. Now just waiting on 'it'"

 

I looked around, then to Aspira, "So, this is where we're to meet her?"

 

"Ioh you heard me say it." Aspira sighed softly, then shook her head and moved close to me, nuzzling my neck with another sigh.

 

I nodded, sighing in return, still clearly shook up. But her nuzzling my neck relaxed me a bit. A soft purr formed in my chest. It was yet audible, but the vibrations could be slightly felt.

 

Aspira purred back softly so that I could hear it and so that it would calm me some more. "I love you Ioh, but what the hell is going on? One minute I'm getting messages saying meet here then you never show. What happened? I got scared and even looked for you." She then sighed in relief as Satomi looked up, then scrunched her nose seeing the ears and tail.

 

"I'm sorry Kitten...," I gave a look of failure and sadness, "I just... wanted to protect the Pride. Protect you..., I ....," I saw Satomi, her bandaged ribs and bullet wound, "I'm sorry....," I murred.

 

Satomi limped up toward us and nodded curtly.

 

Aspira mewed softly to me. "I know Ioh. It's just things are getting so crazy." She bowed her head so that her chin touched her chest, her black locks falling in front of her face.

 

Satomi nodded to Aspira. She pointed to her right shoulder and raised an eyebrow, inquiring after her injury.

 

Aspira watched Satomi for a moment then sighed hanging her head again. "You shot me. And I nearly bled to death... trying to help you."

 

"I owe you both an apology, " I said between the two, mumbling a bit. "Aspira, for making you worry about me. And you, Satomi for well, everything I did. I had no right, I just was ... overprotective I guess." I looked down into the sand.

 

Satomi looked at Aspira, not understanding. She shook her head no.

 

Aspira nodded to Satomi. "Yes you shot me. And at some point you shot Elise. And all Elise and Johnny tried to do was help you too."

 

Satomi nodded sadly at the mention of Elise, but then she mimed shooting Aspira and shook her head no.

 

I looked at Aspira, then purred in her ear to calm her down. "Enough Kitten. She's been through a lot. Can you see the changes?" Motions her to look at Satomi's ears and tail.

 

Aspira nodded. "It was inadvertent. You were aiming at my head." She laughed softly, sarcastically. "You shot. Missed. And the bullet hit the wall, then came back and hit me in the shoulder." She turned and showed her the back of her shoulder so she could see the entry wound. She nodded to me and sighed softly while turning bright red as her eyes teared up. "Yes Ioh. I can."

 

Satomi looked really sad in realizing she shot Aspira. She turned to stare at the ocean. Her tail jumped about clumsily.

 

I looked to my Felix, "Aspie... she's my Sired. Though I intended to hold the vial for much longer, hoping a human might come along willingly, I guess I saw an opportunity for a certain lesson, a certain justice to come from this. But still, no matter, I had no right."

 

Satomi scooted forward and leaned against my leg, looking at the ocean. She spoke up from around Ioh's knees. "I may not have chosen it, but it was a valuable lesson nevertheless."

 

Aspira listened to me. Her shoulders slumped and the tears spilled over her eyelashes as she turned away to face the street. At that moment she seemed so much shorter. Smaller. More fragile than ever. A soft choked mew escaped her lips as her head dropped to look down upon the sand. Tears wet it, turning a deep brown before her feet.

 

I looked down at Satomi and sighed. I then looked over at Aspira and brought my right hand to her shoulder. "Aspie. " I then paused, and mewed, "Kitten." I heard Satomi, but waited for Aspira's response.

 

Aspira pulled her shoulder from my grasp. "I'm supposed to be your Kitten Ioh. I'm supposed to spend my life with you. But you have kept every bit of this from me until now. We were together one minute then you were gone the next. Then when you showed up again you said you were 'on special business.' And now this." Her body felt weak, as she tried to hold herself together. "How can I do this if you hide things from me until after they are done Ioh Kitty?"

 

Murring I replied, "At the time, I felt I had to do this alone. The Matrons didn't seem to be handling it, and I went out and sought to preempt Satomi's potential attack." I looked down to the ground, "I guess I was worried you wouldn't understand, that maybe... maybe you'd ... hate me, if you knew what I was about to do." I then muttered, looking shameful, "Maybe those should have been indicators that I shouldn't have done this... I don't know anymore."

 

Satomi just hugged herself tighter against my leg. With her finger, she drew a small house in the sand, then an arrow going into it. I looked down, seeing the house, "What is this?"

 

Satomi replied, " I need a bed and at least one other cat to get advice from."

 

Aspira turned back to face me. Tears rolled down her face like water down a river. "Ioh, I would of understood. It's that you hid ALL of it from me and didn't tell me anything." Her voice was all choked up as she spoke but tried to hide it. "Ioh I love you. You know that. But I wish you would have talked with me about it."

 

Satomi looked up suddenly. She began realizing what the discussion over head had been about. She looked nervous suddenly. "The Matrons don't know?

 

Aspira looked at Satomi. "I didn't know. What makes you think they would?"

 

"I'm sorry Aspie." I replied, "I'll try not to do anything like this again." I looked between the two, then said, "Aspie, you are my Kitten. My love. And I should not hide things from you." I looked to Satomi, "And Satomi is my sired one, like a daughter to me now. I owe it to you both to be more up front from here on out."

 

Satomi started to tremble. "Tober's going to kill me."

 

"Satomi, I did this to you of my own will, as a vigilante," I began to say, then added, "And no, if there's anyone Tobers might kill, it's me."

 

"But she'll kill me for shooting Elise, and, I guess, Aspira too..."

 

Aspira sighed softly and turned to walk up the beach. "I need to go for a walk Ioh." She could barely whisper it as she walked toward the steps. "I just need time to think."

 

I shook my head. "It was the perceived inaction that made me do this." I watched Aspira head off and sighed, "I really screwed up...," I said, not to any one in particular.

 

Satomi looked like she had been condemned. "Could we meet with the Matron? I... I can't take any more open threats."

 

"I'll leave a message with the Matrons, and see what goes from there." I mrred, but looked to her and smiled, "I'm still not going to let them do anything to kill you, if they decide to do anything at all, ok?"

 

Satomi nodded, grateful for that modicum of security. "I just want one night's sleep without being scared."

 

I nodded, instinctively massaging her ears to comfort her. "Just try not to worry, ok?"

 

Satomi grinned at the novel sensation. "I was afraid to touch them. That feels nice though." She got more serious after enjoying the ear-massage. "Is Aspira going to be okay?" She noticed Dui overhead and pointed up to a rooftop.

 

I shrugged, then perked my ears and looked toward where Satomi was pointing, "What you see Sat?" I then hopped up to look around.

 

Satomi shrugged. "She's gone." She then looked at the military patch on her vest, and wondered if she could rip it off. She then successfully de-badged the vest.

 

I sighed, then chuckled for no apparent reason. I then smiled, watching Satomi, then murred, thinking of Aspira. "Sat? I need to check on Aspie. You have some place safe you can go, or should I take you home first?"

 

And so, once I was certain Satomi had a place to go that was safe, I wandered after Aspira. Not really knowing where to go. It was only by chance that I was led to the Church, entering from the side door in back. There was organ music playing, and for some reason it drew me in. I then found Aspira as she played the organ, pouring her whole heart and soul into it, whatever song popped into her head. It played out through her fingers. I watched from behind her at first. I walked around towards the Organ, to walk up next to Aspira. I sighed more audibly now, then mewed, looking kinda sheepish, and said, "Uh, Kitten?"

 

Aspira turned her head to look at me, but in some weird way she didn't seem to realize I was there. It was as if she was only hearing me. Turning back to the organ she blinked back more tears then hung her head, as if she began realizing something - like the moment someone gets an epiphany or is dumbfounded by their own foolishness. I blinked at her reaction, not sure what to think. I saw her crying, thinking she was still upset with me for what I had done. The only words that could come to me were, "I'm sorry..."

 

Hearing my words she turned her head to look at me. Only this time she seemed to recognize that I was standing there. My figure was likely blurred from her tears. Quickly she stood and wrapped her arms around me and felt shook up as she nuzzled my neck. I murred as I tried to explain. "It is not the same. What you have from me. It is far different than what I gave to Satomi. Satomi is like a daughter, but you are my love, Kitten. In that, you have more than my DNA"

 

Aspira shook her head. "But the point is I have to share YOU with her. Someone I tried so much to help but she just continued to hurt OUR family. And now I have to share you with her. And you didn't even ask if that was ok.

 

I don't find it ok, Ioh. But I love you. So I will have to suffice. I just... I guess I'm just jeal..." She cut herself off and shook her head. "No I'm not. I'm just upset that I have to share you with a woman that tried to kill me. I don't care if she has changed Ioh."

 

She pointed to her shoulder and hung her head. "I almost DIED! Trying to save her. I almost died, Ioh. Right on the front doorstep of the Den. I don't know if you looked but there are big stains on the walls and the ground."

 

I sighed and nodded. "I wanted to kill her. At first, I thought to bind her up and torment her for what she did to our family, our Pride. But you know what I saw in her? In her eyes?"

 

Aspira shook her head and pulled back from Ioh. "You didn't see your family. You saw a crazy military woman, of all things, that was just begging so that she could get out and run back to the military. So that THEY can attack us."

 

I brought my head down looking at the floor as she pushed me. I shook my head. "I saw her fear. Both the rational and the irrational. I saw the identification tags (I still couldn't bring himself to call them 'dog tags') of her family, and I realized something then. She was just a scared child following the orders of her superiors."

 

She shook her head. "Still. It was no reason to go behind my back."

 

Despite the protests, things were looking to be where I might have had a family with Aspira and Satomi. But, about that time did things continue to grow crazy. As soon after we talked plans for marriage, Aspira had gotten raped by the yaoi bunny mentioned before. Somewhere in between that I had a relation in AW on an alt character grow. That relationship brought about my fourth Felix, and pretty much destroyed what could have been with me and Aspie, as well as ruined chances to RP out the relationship between me and my sired one.

 

I'm not sure what happened with Satomi. The last RP I had with her in AW, she had been abducted by vampires. I was to try and save her from them. But, time and circumstances did not allow for it. The assumption I can only have for what happened to Satomi is that she was killed, and therefore, my sired one was dead in world. The only way I come to this conclusion is that her player, while I was trying to see if I could set up the rescue PMed me, "I'm sorry."

 

I know she, her player, isn't dead. Or at least wasn't before my untimely death in the real world. I knew of a couple other characters she played in RP in AW. And, when I was still alive, at least one of her characters was still active, and of whom I had various RPs with before. But still, losing my sired was like losing a child. And yet, I am to blame for putting the events in place that took away the opportunities.

 

*sighs*

 

And so the torments of my personal Purgatory continue...

 

I had a vision of festive days

She's like an eagle in the misty haze

Break my chains, girl,

show me to the land where people live together

and try to understand

Black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is a Mediterranean native that was introduced as an ornamental and medicinal plant in the 17th century. It spreads by seeds and is found in a variety or environmental conditions. Black henbane is narcotic and poisonous to humans. Livestock avoid it unless other forage is not available. Two alkaloids in black henbane tissues (hyoscyamine and scopolamine) are useful sedative/ anti-spasmodic drugs when used under controlled conditions. (Clip off the internet).

 

This plant is all over the Missoula area. There used to be a ton of it out by the laboratory I used to work at. The scientists there told me not to handle it without gloves....quite toxic. It's all over the place and when it blooms it's quite beautiful. I hardly ever see it anymore.

 

Large view is quite interesting!!!

SN/NC: Erythrina Falcata, Syn. & Var. E. Mulungu, E. Fusca, E. Crista-galli, E. Poepigiana, E. Glauca, Fabaceae Family

 

Several Erythrina tree species are used by indigenous peoples in the Amazon as medicines, insecticides and fish poisons. Tinctures and decoctions made from the leaves or barks of Mulungu are often used in Brazilian traditional medicine as a sedative, to calm an overexcited nervous system, to lower blood pressure and for insomnia and depression.

Commercial preparations of Mulungu are available in Brazilian drugstores, but is not very widely known in North America and almost unknown in Europe; mostly appearing as an ingredient in only a few herbal formulas for anxiety or depression. Erythrinas are composed of so many different species and all of them carry the red, orange or coral flowers as their main characteristic. And of course, they look so beautiful giving life to the woods. Popular names: Brazilian Coral Tree, Mulungu, Ahuejote

 

Várias espécies de árvores Eritrinas são usadas por povos indígenas na Amazônia como remédios, inseticidas e venenos para peixes. Tinturas e decocções feitas com folhas ou cascas de Mulungu (Eritrina) são frequentemente usadas na medicina tradicional brasileira como sedativo, para acalmar um sistema nervoso superexcitado, para baixar a pressão sanguínea e para insônia e depressão.

Preparações comerciais de Mulungu (Eritrina) estão disponíveis nas farmácias brasileiras, mas não são muito conhecidas na América do Norte e quase desconhecidas na Europa; principalmente aparecendo como um ingrediente em apenas algumas fórmulas à base de plantas para ansiedade ou depressão. As Eritrinas são compostas por tantas espécies diferentes e todas elas carregam como característica principal as flores vermelhas, alaranjadas ou corais. E claro, ficam tão lindas dando vida à mata.

 

Los pueblos indígenas de la Amazonía utilizan varias especies de árboles de Erythrina como medicinas, insecticidas y venenos para peces. Las tinturas y decocciones hechas de las hojas o cortezas de Mulungu se usan a menudo en la medicina tradicional brasileña como sedantes, para calmar un sistema nervioso sobreexcitado, para bajar la presión arterial y para el insomnio y la depresión.

Las preparaciones comerciales de Mulungu están disponibles en las farmacias brasileñas, pero no son muy conocidas en América del Norte y casi desconocidas en Europa; apareciendo principalmente como ingrediente en solo unas pocas fórmulas a base de hierbas para la ansiedad o la depresión. Las Erythrinas están compuestas por tantas especies diferentes y todas ellas llevan como principal característica las flores rojas, anaranjadas o coralinas. Y por supuesto, se ven tan hermosos dando vida al bosque.

 

Plusieurs espèces d'arbres Erythrina sont utilisées par les peuples autochtones d'Amazonie comme médicaments, insecticides et poisons pour les poissons. Les teintures et décoctions à base de feuilles ou d'écorces de Mulungu sont souvent utilisées dans la médecine traditionnelle brésilienne comme sédatif, pour calmer un système nerveux surexcité, pour abaisser la tension artérielle et pour l'insomnie et la dépression.

Des préparations commerciales de Mulungu sont disponibles dans les pharmacies brésiliennes, mais elles ne sont pas très connues en Amérique du Nord et presque inconnues en Europe ; apparaissant principalement comme ingrédient dans seulement quelques formules à base de plantes pour l'anxiété ou la dépression. Les érythrines sont composées de tant d'espèces différentes et toutes portent les fleurs rouges, oranges ou corail comme principale caractéristique. Et bien sûr, ils sont si beaux en donnant vie aux bois.

 

Verschillende Erythrina-boomsoorten worden door inheemse volkeren in het Amazonegebied gebruikt als medicijnen, insecticiden en visgif. Tincturen en afkooksels gemaakt van de bladeren of blaffen van Mulungu worden in de traditionele Braziliaanse geneeskunde vaak gebruikt als kalmerend middel, om een overprikkeld zenuwstelsel te kalmeren, om de bloeddruk te verlagen en voor slapeloosheid en depressie.

Commerciële bereidingen van Mulungu zijn verkrijgbaar in Braziliaanse drogisterijen, maar zijn niet erg bekend in Noord-Amerika en vrijwel onbekend in Europa; komt meestal voor als ingrediënt in slechts een paar kruidenformules voor angst of depressie. Erythrina's zijn samengesteld uit zoveel verschillende soorten en ze dragen allemaal de rode, oranje of koraalkleurige bloemen als hun belangrijkste kenmerk. En natuurlijk zien ze er zo mooi uit om het bos leven in te blazen.

 

Diverse specie di alberi di Erythrina sono utilizzate dalle popolazioni indigene dell'Amazzonia come medicinali, insetticidi e veleni per i pesci. Tinture e decotti ricavati dalle foglie o dalle cortecce di Mulungu sono spesso usati nella medicina tradizionale brasiliana come sedativo, per calmare un sistema nervoso sovraeccitato, per abbassare la pressione sanguigna e per l'insonnia e la depressione.

Preparazioni commerciali di Mulungu sono disponibili nelle farmacie brasiliane, ma è poco conosciuto in Nord America e quasi sconosciuto in Europa; per lo più appare come ingrediente solo in alcune formule a base di erbe per l'ansia o la depressione. Le Erythrinas sono composte da tantissime specie diverse e tutte portano come caratteristica principale i fiori rossi, arancioni o corallo. E, naturalmente, sono così belli che danno vita ai boschi.

 

Mehrere Erythrina-Baumarten werden von indigenen Völkern im Amazonasgebiet als Arzneimittel, Insektizide und Fischgifte verwendet. Tinkturen und Abkochungen aus den Blättern oder Rinden von Mulungu werden in der traditionellen brasilianischen Medizin häufig als Beruhigungsmittel, zur Beruhigung eines überreizten Nervensystems, zur Senkung des Blutdrucks sowie bei Schlaflosigkeit und Depressionen eingesetzt.

Kommerzielle Präparate von Mulungu sind in brasilianischen Drogerien erhältlich, in Nordamerika jedoch nicht sehr bekannt und in Europa nahezu unbekannt; kommt meist als Zutat in nur wenigen Kräuterformeln gegen Angstzustände oder Depressionen vor. Erythrinas bestehen aus sehr vielen verschiedenen Arten und alle tragen als Hauptmerkmal die roten, orangefarbenen oder korallenroten Blüten. Und natürlich sehen sie so schön aus, dass sie dem Wald Leben einhauchen.

 

تستخدم الشعوب الأصلية في منطقة الأمازون عدة أنواع من أشجار الإريثرينا كأدوية ومبيدات حشرية وسموم أسماك. غالبًا ما تستخدم الصبغات والاستخلاصات المصنوعة من أوراق أو لحاء مولونجو في الطب التقليدي البرازيلي كمسكن ، لتهدئة الجهاز العصبي المفرط ، ولخفض ضغط الدم وللأرق والاكتئاب.

تتوفر المستحضرات التجارية لـ Mulungu في الصيدليات البرازيلية ، ولكنها غير معروفة على نطاق واسع في أمريكا الشمالية وغير معروفة تقريبًا في أوروبا ؛ يظهر في الغالب كعنصر في عدد قليل من التركيبات العشبية للقلق أو الاكتئاب. تتكون Erythrinas من العديد من الأنواع المختلفة وكلها تحمل الزهور الحمراء أو البرتقالية أو المرجانية باعتبارها السمة الرئيسية لها. وبالطبع ، تبدو جميلة جدًا وهي تعطي الحياة للغابات.

 

いくつかのエリスリナの樹種は、アマゾンの先住民族によって薬、殺虫剤、魚毒として使用されています。ムルングの葉や樹皮から作られるチンキ剤や煎じ薬は、ブラジルの伝統医学で鎮静剤として、過度に興奮した神経系を落ち着かせ、血圧を下げ、不眠症やうつ病によく使用されます。

ムルングの市販製剤はブラジルのドラッグストアで入手できますが、北米ではあまり知られておらず、ヨーロッパでもほとんど知られていません。ほとんどの場合、不安やうつ病のためのほんの数種類のハーブ処方に成分として含まれています。エリスリナは非常に多くの異なる種で構成されており、そのすべてが赤、オレンジ、またはサンゴの花を主な特徴としています。そしてもちろん、森に命を吹き込んでいる姿はとても美しいです。

 

SN/NC: Caesalpinia Pluviosa Var. peltophoroides, Fabaceae Family

 

This tree is popularly known as sibipiruna or false brazilwood, is an ornamental species with wood potential and with great distribution in Brazil. The genus Caesalpinia has more than five hundred species, most of which have not yet been studied for their pharmacological potential. Several species of the genus are known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, it was possible to verify that sibipiruna did not present antimutagenic activity, but a plant with possible mutagenic action in the concentrations used.

 

Conhecida popularmente como Sibipiruna, Coração-de-negro, Sebipira, Sibipira é uma árvore ornamental da Família das Fabáceaes. É nativa do Brasil e está presente em toda a América do Sul e outras áreas. Muito usada na jardinagem e no urbanismo brasileiro pode atingir mais de 20m de altura. A sibipiruna é uma árvore semidecídua, de rápido crescimento e florescimento ornamental. Nativa da mata atlântica, ela é uma espécie pioneira ou secundária inicial, ou seja é uma das primeiras espécies a surgir em uma área degradada. Seu porte é alto, podendo atingir de 8 a 25 m de altura. O tronco é cinzento e se torna escamoso com o tempo, seu diâmetro é de 30 a 40 cm. A copa é arredondada, ampla, com cerca de 15 m de diâmetro. Suas folhas são compostas, bipinadas, com folíolos elípticos e verdes. No inverno ocorre uma queda quase total das folhas, que voltam a brotar na primavera. A floração ocorre de setembro a novembro, despontando inflorescências eretas e cônicas, do tipo espiga e com numerosas flores amarelas que abrem gradativamente da base em direção ao ápice. Os frutos que se seguem são do tipo legume, achatados, pretos quando maduros e contêm cerca de 3 a 5 sementes beges, também achatadas, em forma de gota ou elípticas. A dispersão ocorre pela ação do vento.

 

Caesalpinia pluviosa, sebipira es una especie botánica de árbol leguminosa de la familia de las Fabaceae. Se halla endémico de Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia. Está amenazado por pérdida de hábita. Muy usada en las calles de ciudades brasileñas por ser muy bellas en su floreada. Tiene las hojas son bipinnadas con el eje central de 20-25 cm de largo, con 8-9 pares de pinnas, cada una con alrededor de 11 a 13 pares de foliolos de 10-12 mm. La floración ocurre entre de agosto y se extiende hasta el final del verano, produciendo inflorescencias cónicas en racimos erectos de flores amarillas. Las vainas de las frutas da lugar a dos válvas compuestas leñosa seca larga y correosa, con 7,6 a 12,0 cm de largo por 2.7 a 3.1 cm de ancho. Cuando están maduras, las vainas se abren girando en una explosiva dehiscencia expulsando 1-5 semillas. Estas son comprimidas, irregularmente circulares, transversales, ovato-obovadas o orbiculares a subglobosas con un frente muy duro y rígido, claro, espesa o sin albúmina, provisto de una boquilla en el hilio y con margen. Pueden vivir más de cien años. Caesalpinia pluviosa fue descrito por Augustin Pyrame de Candolle y publicado en Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis Caesalpinia: nombre genérico que fue otorgado en honor del botánico italiano Andrea Cesalpino (1519-1603). pluviosa: epíteto latino que significa "lluviosa". Sin. caesalpinia parensis, caesalpinia peltophoroides. Conocida por Momoqui, sebipira o sepipiruna.

 

Deze boom staat in de volksmond bekend als sibipiruna of vals brazilwood, is een siersoort met houtpotentieel en met een grote verspreiding in Brazilië. Het geslacht Caesalpinia heeft meer dan vijfhonderd soorten, waarvan de meeste nog niet zijn onderzocht op hun farmacologische potentieel. Verschillende soorten van het geslacht staan bekend om hun antioxiderende en ontstekingsremmende activiteiten. Daarom was het mogelijk om te verifiëren dat sibipiruna geen antimutagene activiteit vertoonde, maar een plant met mogelijk mutagene werking in de gebruikte concentraties.

 

Cet arbre, communément connu sous le nom de sibipiruna ou faux bois du Brésil, est une espèce ornementale avec un potentiel ligneux et une grande distribution au Brésil. Le genre Caesalpinia compte plus de cinq cents espèces, dont la plupart n’ont pas encore été étudiées pour leur potentiel pharmacologique. Plusieurs espèces du genre sont connues pour leurs activités antioxydantes et anti-inflammatoires. Ainsi, il a été possible de vérifier que la sibipiruna ne présentait pas d'activité antimutagène, mais une plante avec une possible action mutagène dans les concentrations utilisées.

 

Questo albero è popolarmente conosciuto come sibipiruna o falso legno brasiliano, è una specie ornamentale con potenziale legnoso e con grande distribuzione in Brasile. Il genere Caesalpinia comprende più di cinquecento specie, la maggior parte delle quali non sono state ancora studiate per il loro potenziale farmacologico. Diverse specie del genere sono note per le loro attività antiossidanti e antinfiammatorie. È stato quindi possibile verificare che la sibipiruna non presentava attività antimutagena, ma una pianta con possibile azione mutagena nelle concentrazioni utilizzate.

 

Dieser Baum ist im Volksmund als Sibipiruna oder falscher Brasilholzbaum bekannt und eine Zierart mit Holzpotenzial, die in Brasilien weit verbreitet ist. Die Gattung Caesalpinia umfasst mehr als fünfhundert Arten, von denen die meisten noch nicht auf ihr pharmakologisches Potenzial untersucht wurden. Mehrere Arten dieser Gattung sind für ihre antioxidative und entzündungshemmende Wirkung bekannt. Daher konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass Sibipiruna keine antimutagene Wirkung aufweist, sondern dass es sich bei der Pflanze um eine Pflanze mit möglicher mutagener Wirkung in den verwendeten Konzentrationen handelt.

 

تُعرف هذه الشجرة شعبيًا باسم Sibipiruna أو شجرة خشب البرازيل الزائفة وهي من أنواع الزينة ذات إمكانات الأخشاب المنتشرة على نطاق واسع في البرازيل. يشمل جنس Caesalpinia أكثر من خمسمائة نوع، معظمها لم تتم دراستها بعد لمعرفة إمكاناتها الدوائية. العديد من الأنواع في هذا الجنس معروفة بتأثيراتها المضادة للأكسدة والمضادة للالتهابات. ولذلك كان من الممكن إثبات أن سيبيبيرونا ليس له تأثير مضاد للطفرات، بل أن النبات نبات له تأثيرات مطفرة محتملة في التركيزات المستخدمة.

 

この木はシビピルナまたは偽ブラジルウッドとして一般に知られており、木材としての可能性を秘めた観賞用の種であり、ブラジルに広く分布しています。 Caesalpinia 属には 500 以上の種があり、そのほとんどはその薬理学的可能性についてまだ研究されていません。この属のいくつかの種は、抗酸化作用と抗炎症作用で知られています。したがって、シビピルナは抗変異原性活性を示さないが、使用した濃度において変異原性作用を示す可能性のある植物であることを検証することができた。

I love lavendar.... spray the light essense all over your bedding ten minutes before bed....you'll sleep like a baby! Really!

The development of safer sedatives led to the disappearance of Nervine from American shelves by 1975.

-- Scientopia. Org

 

A pamphlet mailed to farmers with weather guide for the year

and advertising with testimonials

 

The Miles Medical company,

was founded in 1884 by Franklin Miles MD,

------------

"Okay, so Nervine -- the original Mother's Little Helper along with Milltown -- was created in 1889 and went off the market in 1999. The main ingredients were bromines, which is why in the 1950s the FDA told Miles to change their formula, so it went from being a 'nerve' tonic to being a sleep aid with the removal of the bromines. Reason why Nervine the sleep aid went off the market in 1999 was with the merger with Bayer, Bayer had their own sleep aid on the market so didn't need to produce two.

 

"Nervine wasn't really quackery, though some of Miles' other products of the early days mighta been (Cactus Compound, anyone?)... the thing was, Miles had invented the concept of 'nerves' as A Thing, and the sedative properties treated that. They were defintely not the only ones who were selling the notion -- Rexall had their own version, their nerve tonic wasn't bromiated but still messed with your head, and instead of calling it 'nerves' they referred to it "Americanitis". Google that for proof. :)

 

"Now you know what happened."

 

-- Mushy