The Dalia War
On this day when I write this, on 25 May, the illustrious Swedish botanist Anders Dahl died 226 years ago (in 1789). He was only 38 years old, but his corner left this world. He who was the director of the Botanical Garden of Claes Alström had to leave a nice track. Two years after his death came from Mexico to Madrid, in the royal botanic garden, the first dalias, whose workers, the botanist Antonio José Cavanilles, named the genus Dahlia in honor of the Swedish. Both were subordinate followers of Linnaeus, who at that time represented a revolution in the knowledge of plants.
If the story of Dalia's name is pretty, let it be more beautiful. When they brought them from Mexico, they talked about the elegance of their flowers, but also about the edible underground tubers. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) was also brought in perfumes of similar fame: nice flowers and edible tubers. There, in America, they ate. Bring Europe and fight the botanists, each more elegant. And the degree of elegance overpushes the edible. A redder, more eye-catching, with a larger petals, which called the flower more... With the resources of the early 19th century, another botanical battle. The Dalia War.
Dalias has a special genetic characteristic: they are octoploids; that is, they have equivalent chromosomes in octaves. Most plants, on the contrary, are two-by-two. Within these chromosomes, it is easy to have transposons or moving parts that have the ability to move genes from one side to the other. Therefore, although there are 42 species in the genus Dahlia, thousands and thousands of varieties have been created. I work almost entirely based on the mixture of colors and the shape of the flower; hardly anything.
Crazed by the flowers, they quickly abandoned the owls that were fed in the subsoil. It was also much more fertile because the potato was close to them. But the Aztecs often ate in their hometown of Mexico, and even today they use the tuber in their kitchen. It says it has a taste like artichoke. Throughout Central America they use a roasted tuber to add special steam to some beverages. The flowers are also good for eating, sweet and with a little sweet: with onion in salads, legumes and soups...
At the beginning of the last century, in North America and in Europe, before the location of insulin (1923), diabetics and anesthetics took a substance extracted from dalia tubers.
In Mexico, you know, they called it a “national flower.”
In our latitude the sweat of most plants moves in the spring, and in this time we will enjoy the great blooms. Flowers are the symbol of beauty: to see, to smell... And to try? Did you eat a flower? I'm sure it does.
Who has not eaten artichokes (Cynara cardunculus var... [+]
Lilipak edo nartzisoak loretan dira. Nabarmen adierazten dute mendean hartutako bere lurren berri. Neguan loratzen dira, kolore zuri-hori ikusgarritan, eta usaina bafadaka hedatzen dute. Multzoka bizi dira; lurpean erraboila emankorra dute, eta bat zen tokian, urtetik urtera... [+]
Udari begira jarri gaituen eguraldi honek landareak ederki mugitu ditu. Gu ere bai. Zaldibarren, Eitzaga auzoko zabortegiko madarikazioaren ardurak eskatzera, eta langileei, haien senideei eta auzotarrei babesa emateko manifestazioan Eibarko Amañatik abiatu ginen. Hasi... [+]
I remember as a kid how we called it the "little boy." The flower reminded us of the chicken's head. José María Lakoizketa was named “kurkubia” in Bertizarana in 1888, as its fruit resembles a kurkubi or bottle. He says in Cinco Villas they call him “cascabel.” In 1976... [+]
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In the pile of manure and waste there is usually a guest in summer, although not always: estrammonium or estrammonium, Datura stramonum. Some have also received the names of “carbonero” or “higuzoro” for this plant. It is a striking, upright plant, with a glowing... [+]
The year of Dalia, the pinnata Dahlia, was chosen this year by the organizers of the festival. Well said, it's the year of Dahlia. Dictionaries and encyclopedias in Euskera call this plant “dalia”; I think we should call it “dahlia”.
The Spanish invaders who met Dahlia... [+]
I have been a little quieter on the day when the night has become longer than the clear day and I am glad that we are six months like this. I cannot deny that summer has been beautiful, but it smells better to fall. Plants are made “tizas” with the arrival of autumn. The... [+]
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Lately, I asked Joxe Anton Arze, one of the most beautiful Basque landscape architects, about the names of the plants that had white flowers. It's already in its Mortecine light.
Grapefruit (Narcissus poeticus), Star perico (Stelaria holostea), White hawthorn (Crataegus... [+]
His relative is the Lo-Belar (Papaver somniferum), but compared to him is the Michoneta (Papaver Rhoeas). The poppy is well known; it is also known as “urdemutur” and “urdamutur”. When spring arrives, the earth will blur every year. It also revives the blush of my shame,... [+]