This is the Calypso orchid. It is not West Indian in the least, since it lives only in the Northern temperate zones. It is named after the Greek nymph, Calypso, who tried to keep Odysseus captive, as her sex slave, pretty much. Some orchids do that to their pollinators, but this one just tries to […]
Calypso. orchid. nymph. music. Read More »
Towards the end of last week, The Guardian published this gorgeous series of pictures by Barbados artist Annalee Davis, who is currently participating in the re:rural exhibition at Haarlem Artspace, in Derbyshire, UK. Since Derbyshire is shockingly expensive and difficult for me to get to at the best of times, let alone in a pandemic,
Annalee Davis and West Indian plants Read More »
In the first year of my MA studies, one of our lecturers on the topic of ‘Reading for graduate students’ told us to keep a log or journal of everything we read. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. Even if we decided it was utterly useless. I didn’t think he was wrong necessarily, but I did think it was impractical.
How to keep a reading log for PhD students Read More »
… or getting it out of my system, possibly. I was just sliding some comments on Fúnmi Olúbọ̀dé-Sàwẹ̀’s ‘Strategies of Composition in Yoruba Plant Nomenclature’ into my dissertation, so of course I had to skim through it again. It’s impossible to avoid noticing that Yoruba plant-names give the impression that their inventors were interested in
It might be coincidence. Or it might be that an algorithm somewhere now believes that I’m especially interested in orchids. At any rate, the internet presented me with this: ‘Imagine using liquid water’: why people water their house plants with ice cubes – Often touted as an easy solution to overwatering, the practice of placing
No sooner than you start looking… Read More »
As an appropriate start, I’m pretty excited that the earliest orchid ever discovered so far comes from the West Indies. It’s called Meliorchis caribea, which is a pretty name, and effectively means Caribbean Stingless Bee Orchid. Actually, only the pollen of the orchid was discovered, on a bee which got trapped in amber some 15
A First West Indian Orchid Read More »
