Binomen Art - Camellia

There is never a dull moment from February onward at Travelmarx headquarters. From sarcococca, azara, pieris, to bulbs of all kinds, and now, camellia. From February to March it’s time for our camellia to spring into action. Our camellia tree creates lots of blooms that drop and create a carpet of pink-purple on the ground. And wouldn’t you just know it that we went out one day and the blossoms - as if by magic - spelled “Camellia”!

The etymology of the genus Camellia is that it honors the “Jesuit missionary Georg Joseph (Georgius Josephus) Kamel (Camellus, Camel, Camelli), 1661 - 1706, born at Brno in Moravia, pharmacist, traveler in Asia, plant collector in Luzon, Philippines.” Carl Linnaeus named the Camellia after Kamel in 1735.

The particular plant pictured here is one that was here when we moved in. We estimate the age of the Camellia tree at least greater than 40 years old, about 16 feet high and 12 feet wide. Its blossoms are semi-doubled blossoms with no scent that we can detect. It is likely C. japonica - or common camellia.

Camellia Blossoms on Hazelnut Shells

Camellia japonica blossoms Up Close


Camellia Blossoms on a Branch


Camellia Binomen Art – Reprise

Binomen Art - Pieris japonica

The genus Pieris is named for the Greek Muses, the Pierides, a cult introduced into Pieria near Mount Olympus. Pieris was a daughter of Pierus a Muse. [Quattrocchi] Etymologically, this sounds fascinating, but, after a little investigation it seems that there was no information we could find as to why this particular daughter was chosen. Did she have some attributes that this plant represents? Back in the world of mortals, we do know that Pieris is a shrub in the Ericaceae family (the heath/heather family). They have the characteristic bell-shaped flowers and leathery texture that is common for many plants in this family.

In Seattle, Pieris is relatively common. The specimen pictured here (P. japonica D.Don ex G.Don we believe) is less showy than you typically see in that it never develops very deep red-colored young leaves. P. japonica is native to Eastern China, Japan (hence japonica), and Taiwan and grows easily in Seattle. We estimate the age of this specimen at least 30-40 years old. It grows on the north side of our house and is a welcome sign to see blooming in February and March. The blossoms don’t have a scent that we can detect but are relatively long lasting. 

The generic name is spelled with dried seed capsules. The specific name is spelled with little twigs from the shrub.

We noticed when taking the photos that the woody seed capsules seem to turn upward whereas the flowers are pointed downward. Also, on the subject of seeds: in all the years we’ve lived with this shrub (17 or so years) we’ve never once seen a spontaneous start of P. japonica. That is something to muse about.

Binomial Fun Looking Out Our Entry Hall Window at the Pieris Shrub

Pieris japonica Seed Capsule and Flower Under Loupe

Pieris japonica Racemes

Pieris japonica Dried Capsules and Flowers

The Specimen

Binomen Art - Trachycarpus fortunei

Trachycarpus fortunei Spelled Out (Left) and with Digital Overlay (Right)
Next up in the Binomen Art series is Trachycarpus fortunei, commonly called Chusan Palm or Windmill Palm. We’ve always used the latter common name. This palm is native to central China. From Quattrocchi: the generic name comes from the Greek trachys meaning “rough” and karpos meaning fruit and refers to the rough surface of the fruits. The specific name honors Robert Fortune, a 19^th century Scottish botanist and plant hunter.

The Specimen

We’ve had this particular palm for over 20 years. For many years it was in a pot where it did not flourish. Only when we put in the ground and ignore it, did it take off. We have yet to see it produce flowers or fruits so we can’t confirm the trachys part of the name. It seems to do well in the Seattle climate with the occasional snow as shown from one of the pictures. T. fortunei is known to be pretty hardy.

The Installation

We hung the letters from the petioles of one fan. We fastened each of the letters with a single thread taken from the fibrous stem (not a trunk because it lacks true wood structure?). We threaded a needle with a single fiber and made a hole through each letter to suspend it. Weeks later, the “R” and “A” still remain while the other letters have fallen apart.

Trachycarpus fortunei with Snow – Jan 2012


Planning The Spelling

Trachycarpus fortunei Stem-Trunk Fiber

Travelmarx Music Picks – Winter 2012

Music we’ve listened to at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. Spotify playlist: Travelmarx Winter 2012.

1. Rickie Lee Jones (Pirates) - After hearing Rickie at the Jazz Alley, we went back to some of the albums with tracks she performed, including Pirates (1981) and the track Living It Up - musical story telling at its finest.

2. Fraser, Budd, Guthrie, Raymond (The Moon and the Melodies) - Memory Gongs played when you need to take it down a notch or two.

3. Augie March (Moo You Blood Choir) - The track Honey Month oozes lushness into our ears. We don’t know what it all means really. For a long time, we misread the track title as Honey Mouth - which could equally apply to the songs on this album.

4. Jóhannsson, Jóhann (Fordlandia) - A minimalist composition inspired by the failure of Henry Ford’s Brazilian rubber plant of the same name. Music to think by.

5. k.d. Lang and Siss Boom Bang (Sing It Loud). Play it loud and often. We like the title track Sing It Loud.

6. Max Richter (Infra) - We have a soft spot for Max Richter and his haunting music.

7. Feist (Metals) - Darker than past albums.

8. Slow Train Soul (Illegal Cargo) - Behind this funky effort is ½ of the Puddo Varano, Morten Varano. You might recognize a number of tracks if you’ve listened to any of the Hotel Costes series before.

9. M. Ward (Hold Time) - Great hooks and lyrics makes you want to listen again and again.

10. Bjork (Biophilia) - With iPad app. We are still trying to make sense of it all.

11. Rinocerose (Guitar Organisation) - A guilty pleasure.

12. Francois Poulenc - (Gloria) - Composed in 1959. We once sang Laudamus te in chorus and we keep coming back to it.

13. The Great Lake Swimmers (Ongiara) - Yes, it is still in heavy rotation in our headphones at work. There is a peaceful and easy feeling about this album. I think I Became Awake will be our 2012 theme song.

14. Uakti and Philip Glass (Aguas da Amazonia) - Two favorite artists, together.

15. Andrew Bird (Useless Creatures) - Please play at our funeral.

16. Finley Quaye (Vanguard) - We came to this album through the track Calendar.

17. William Orbit (My Oracle Lives Uptown) - Radioharp - some tracks are good, others a tad too sweet.

18. Jun Miyake (Stolen From Strangers) - After seeing the movie Pina which featured music from Miyake we just had to get this and we aren’t sorry.

19. Pina Soundtrack - The soundtrack to the Wim Winders film about Pina Bausch. Excellent movie and soundtrack.

20. Devendra Barnhart (Smokey Rolls Down the Canyon) - What can one say about this release? We love it. Shabop Shalom alone is worth it.

21. Cocteau Twins (Snow) - The Cocteau Twins do Frosty the Snowman? It was a big disconnect when we hear in Banana Republic of all places.

22. Wilco (The Whole Love) - We always start off saying “oh” another Wilco release and then we can’t stop listening to it.

23. Carmen Consoli (Elettra) - Love the waltz Sud Est.

24. Melody Gardot (My One and Only Thrill) - The whole album is great. To think we learned about this album in a spin class! Okay, it was a song used for stretching at the end.

25. Kate Bush (50 Words for Snow) - We were excited when we came upon the Director’s Cut earlier this year. Now this? Say it isn’t so. 

McCoy Schering Mortar and Pestle Cups and Holly, Ilex aquifolium

This installment in the pots and plants series features sort-of-a-pot - really a cup - with holly, Ilex aquifolium. These cups represent mortar and pestles, the traditional symbol of the pharmacy. The handle is the pestle and the cup is the mortar. The cups here were produced in 1965 by McCoy Pottery for the Schering Corporation. The Schering Corporation is now part of Merck but has roots going back to 1851 when it was founded by Ernst Christian Friederich Schering in Germany.

You can read a detailed story of these mortar and pestles in this article Schering Mortar & Pestle Series. In a nutshell, the Schering Corporation started producing these cups (in several different materials besides ceramics shown here) and other items (e.g. cufflinks, note pad and pen set, swizzle sticks!) in 1963 as promotional items.

The writing and imagery on the cups can be decoded as follows:

- On the handle, the word “Coricidin ®” refers to the drug, Coricidin

- On the base of the cup, the words “secundum artem” mean “according to the arts” - the techniques used and known only by pharmacists for compounding

- On the rim of the cup, the phrase “Galen 131-201 A.D.” refers to the accomplished medical figure of antiquity, Claudius Galen

- On the bottom of the cup the name of the company “Schering” is written, arching over a stylized mortar and pestle

- On one side of the cup is a bust of Galen and on the other side, the common pharmacist’s symbol “Rx”

We will never look at these cups the same after finding out this information in the process of preparing this post. We do use them in our medicine cabinet to hold various tubes and toiletry odds and ends.

On to the plant, it is holly - well to be more specific, our neighbor’s holly. Didn’t think they would miss a few leaves. Holly’s binomial name is Ilex aquifolium. Quattrocchi says that the generic name is from the Latin ilex (elex), icis, the ancient name for the holm oak tree, Quercus ilex. Perhaps due to the similarity in leaves? Curiously, the specific name, aquilfolium, means Holly-like leaves. Names can be confusing at times if you read too much into them without knowing how the name got applied. The name of the family is Aquilfoliceae.

Ironically, holly seems to be rarely used medicinally.

McCoy Schering Mortar and Pestle Cups Showing Bottom Mark

Spectral Light and Ushnu at Huanaco Pampa

Step 1: Light Comes Through Window
Step 2: Light Reflects off Plastic Cover

Step 3: Spectral Light Appears on Door
The “spectral light” in the title of this post is an event that occurs every January 31^st at our house. The event reminder pops up on our calendar as “Spectral Light on Bathroom Door”. It sounds spooky, but is quite simple. The angle of the sun on this day is such that it comes through an east facing window in early to mid-morning, bounces off a security panel plastic cover in an inner hall way and displays a ghostly light pattern on our bathroom door for a few minutes. The bathroom is on the north side of the house and does not receive direct sunlight. The event is one that lets us think of our house as a big calendar of sorts, our little bit of archeoastronomy in action.

There are several points to mention about this light. First, there must be corresponding event in late November but we have never recorded this event. Second, given that in Seattle the number of days of sun per year is not that great, that our spectral light appears magically in winter is all the more amazing. Third, last summer I was unfortunately only able to spend a hurried morning at the British Museum on the tail end of my Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk, but one display that stuck in my mind was a diagram of the Ushnu at Hunacopampa which showed the position of the rising sun on key dates in the year. In the diagram, the June Solstice, Equinox and the December Solstice are shown. Unfortunately or fortunately, our house was not built around key calendar times, so January 31^st is what we are left with as a house-calendar date.  (Update: 2012-11-08 - we just saw it again today, approximately 42 days before the Solstice.)

Entrance to the British Museum and the Ushnu at Hunacopampa Exhibit

An ushnu is a pyramid-shaped, terraced structure that the Incas used for ceremonial purposes. Sort of a stage and throne rolled into one. Huánuco Pampa (in Spanish) is an Incan site that dates from 1470 to 1532 AD. The Huánuco region is in central Peru and served as an Incan administrative center. The role of astronomy at ushnu at Huánuco Pampa is discussed at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos - Universidad del Perú web site.

Our house was remodeled in 2005-2006. Two changes we made make the spectral light event possible: a small bump out where the east-facing window is and the enlargement of a passage way. What if we had taken archeoastronomy into account when we were remodeling? The four most expensive words in remodeling: “While we’re at it…”
The Light Path Through the House