Plantas Imaginárias
Mandrágora
("Ortus Sanitatis" sec. XV)
Inspirada pelo "Dictionary of Imaginary Places", vou iniciar uma série de posts sobre árvores, flores e plantas imaginárias, onde pretendo recolher o maior número possível de descrições sobre as plantas que povoam a nossa imaginação graças a: Lendas, fábulas, mitos, e todo o tipo de obras literárias. Todas as contribuições e sugestões serão úteis e muito bem vindas.
Assim de repente - porque já foram referidos neste blog - lembro-me: Das rosas amarelas que deviam ser encarnadas da "Alice no País das Maravilhas" e as flores que falam no Outro Lado do Espelho, A metamorfose em árvore nas "As Aventuras Maravilhosas de João sem Medo", O pé de Laranja Lima do Zezé, As árvores do bosque dos 100 Acres em "Joanica Puff", a chuvinha de minúsculas flores amarelas nos "Cem anos de Solidão", A Tília e o Carvalho em que se transformam Baucis e Filemon nas "Metamorfoses"(de Ovídio) ...
E para começar, nada melhor do que as Árvores Cisterna e ainda, os Rícinos (mamani) e os Metrosideros (ohia tree) na Terra das Fadas, que Mark Twain descreve nos relatos da sua viagem ao Hawai:
THE CISTERN TREE
Speaking of trees reminds me that a species of large-bodied tree grows along the road below Waiohinu whose crotch is said to contain tanks of fresh water at all times; the natives suck it out through a hollow weed, which always grows near. As no other water exists in that wild neighborhood, within a space of some miles in circumference, it is considered to be a special invention of Providence for the behoof of the natives. I would rather accept the story than the deduction, because the latter is so manifestly but hastily conceived and erroneous. If the happiness of the natives had been the object, the tanks would have been filled with whisky.
IN FAIRY LAND
Portions of that little journey bloomed with beauty. Occasionally we entered small basins walled in with low cliffs, carpeted with greenest grass, and studded with shrubs and small trees whose foliage shone with an emerald brilliancy. One species, called the mamona [mamani], with its bright color, its delicate locust leaf, so free from decay or blemish of any kind, and its graceful shape, chained the eye with a sort of fascination. The rich verdant hue of these fairy parks was relieved and varied by the splendid carmine tassels of the ohia tree. Nothing was lacking but the fairies themselves.
em: "Twenty-five letters from Mark Twain from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii)"
Speaking of trees reminds me that a species of large-bodied tree grows along the road below Waiohinu whose crotch is said to contain tanks of fresh water at all times; the natives suck it out through a hollow weed, which always grows near. As no other water exists in that wild neighborhood, within a space of some miles in circumference, it is considered to be a special invention of Providence for the behoof of the natives. I would rather accept the story than the deduction, because the latter is so manifestly but hastily conceived and erroneous. If the happiness of the natives had been the object, the tanks would have been filled with whisky.
IN FAIRY LAND
Portions of that little journey bloomed with beauty. Occasionally we entered small basins walled in with low cliffs, carpeted with greenest grass, and studded with shrubs and small trees whose foliage shone with an emerald brilliancy. One species, called the mamona [mamani], with its bright color, its delicate locust leaf, so free from decay or blemish of any kind, and its graceful shape, chained the eye with a sort of fascination. The rich verdant hue of these fairy parks was relieved and varied by the splendid carmine tassels of the ohia tree. Nothing was lacking but the fairies themselves.
em: "Twenty-five letters from Mark Twain from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii)"
