Narra una leggenda che in un tempo molto, molto lontano, durante un gelido e nevoso giorno di Gennaio, un piccolo pettirosso vagasse infreddolito tra i cespugli in cerca di un riparo dalla neve .. i rami nudi che, intirizziti, oscillavano tristi battuti dall'alito glaciale del mese più freddo dell'anno rispondevano languidi alla sua richiesta di aiuto producendo suoni lamentevoli per comunicargli mestamente che in alcun modo potevano essergli di sollievo, ma tra tanti rami spogli il povero pettirosso, ormai stremato e fiaccato dal freddo, riuscì finalmente a trovare ricovero sotto un gruppo di foglie, brunite, rinsecchite dal gelo, ma ancora attaccate ai rami: l'ospitalità gliela stava offrendo un cespuglio di Calicanto.
Il cielo, vedendo un atto di così naturale e spontanea misericordia, quasi si commosse e non poté esimersi dal premiare l'umile cespuglio facendo scendere su di esso una pioggia di stelle luminose
dall'intenso profumo e da allora il Calicanto continua a fiorire a Gennaio deliziando i nostri gelidi giorni d'inverno ed avvolgendo della sua unica ed inconfondibile fragranza i nostri giardini solo in apparenza dormienti.
Il nome originario del Calicanto, CHIMONANTHUS, in lingua greca, che significa 'fiore d'inverno', ci riporta alle regole tassonomiche anteriori il medioevo, tradendo un'origine che si perde nella notte dei tempi e non ci è, perciò, difficile immaginare quanto con ogni probabilità potesse rendere ancor più favolosi gli antichi giardini di Babilonia e chissà che non fosse proprio questo suo inebriante profumo ad ammaliare i viaggiatori che riportavano racconti di quei luoghi come di un paradiso di colori ed aromi prima sconosciuti, un paradiso dei sensi che rendeva arduo il non smarrire il contatto con la realtà ..
E dall'Inghilterra fu poi presto diffuso nei 'dominions', primo fra tutti l'Australia; se ne trova menzione nell'Hortus Cadmenensis, il catalogo illustrato delle piante coltivate da Sir William MacArthur at Camden Park, NSW, Australia, tra il 1820 ed il 1861, in cui leggiamo:
"Il dotto e acculturato Kaempfer * nel suo Amaen. Exot. che era edotto in fatto delle più utili informazioni, ci fornisce un'immagine di questa pianta,
in cui è rappresentata sia con fiori che con i vasi di coltivazione, accompagnato da una breve descrizione su di essa, da cui si apprende che è coltivata in Giappone come pianta ornamentale, che i fiori sono prodotti nel mese di febbraio, prima delle foglie e che essi hanno il profumo della violetta, ma diventano piuttosto sgradevoli sul finire della fioritura. Udito che Lord Coventry fu il primo a possedere questa pianta in Inghilterra, mi sono preso la libertà di scrivere a sua signoria nel mese di gennaio 1799, per richiedere alcune informazioni a tal proposito, così come alcuni altri relativi alla sua cultura, e tc . Il 13 dello stesso mese, sua signoria ebbe la bontà di mandarmi un bellissimo esemplare di pianta in fiore, una piantina di un anno, insieme ad un vaso del 1798, e alcuni semi; della lettera del Conte cito il seguente passo : - " la bellezza del Calycanthus praecox in questo momento supera ogni descrizione, è coperto di fiori da cima a fondo, e la sua fragranza può essere percepita ad una distanza di cinquanta metri dalla conservatory . " [ T.466/1800 BM ] .
'Fu introdotto nel 1766, e fu coltivato perfettamente dal defunto conte di Coventry, nel cui giardino d'inverno a Croome, crediamo, l'impianto originario sia ancora in crescita. [...] Se la pianta è al riparo dalle intemperie, o riesce a crescere in un inverno mite, continua la propria fioritura da ottobre ad aprile: i fiori hanno un profumo delizioso '[LBC no.617/1822] 1
Gli inglesi lo nominarono, con tutta la dolcezza di cui solamente loro sono in grado di fare uso nel dare nomi alle piante, 'Wintersweet', 'Dolcezza d'inverno' e nel linguaggio dei fiori, consegnatoci dal romanticismo vittoriano, esso simboleggia protezione, affettuosa accoglienza, forse proprio in memoria della leggenda cui è legato; donare perciò un ramo adornato da queste umili corolle,
dai petali esterni di un giallo così tenue e da quelli più interni che descrivono quasi una coppa al centro del calice variegati di un vivace purpureo,
significa offrire amorevolmente appoggio, difesa, sostegno ed allora, vuolsi per il suo profumo, vuolsi per il suo significato simbolico, quale luogo migliore se non la prossimità dell'ingresso del giardino per coltivarlo.
E furono infine proprio le vezzose 'ladies' del tempo, che amavano profumarsi con le più svariate ed intense essenze floreali, a divulgare la tradizione popolare che suggerisce che strofinare i polsi e le caviglie con queste delicate corolle per carpirne il profumo rinvigorisca lo spirito e doni vitalità ...
Toilette by Jules James Rougeron, 1877
cosa erano capaci d'inventarsi pur di avvolgersi di conturbanti nuvole di profumo per far girare la testa ai propri corteggiatori !
Nella speranza di avervi intrattenuti piacevolmente con queste curiosità su di un fiore così delizioso e particolare, vi saluto con affetto
A presto ♥
Note e citazioni:
* Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 – 1716) fu un naturalista, botanico, medico, viaggiatore e scrittore tedesco che ci ha lasciato resoconti significativi sulle culture e le piante del continente asiatico, soprattutto il Giappone, il cui nome è legato a quello del Gingko Biloba poichè fu il primo a classificarlo.
1 - http://hortuscamden.com/plants/view/chimonanthus_praecox_link
The legend of the Calycanthus and the robin
- picture 1
A legend goes that a long, long time ago, during a cold and snowy day in January, a little robin wandered among the bushes searching for a shelter from the snow ... the bare branches that, numb, swayed sad beaten by the glacial breath of the coldest month of the year answered languidly to his request for help while doing lamentable sounds to tell ruefully that in any way they couldn't be of any relief to him, but among the bare branches, the poor robin, now exhausted and weakened by the cold, was finally able to find shelter under a clump of leaves, burnished, withered by the frost, but still attached to the branches: the hospitality was offering him by a bush of Calycanthus.
The sky, seeing an act of so natural and spontaneous mercy, as if touched, couldn't refrain from rewarding the humble bush making fall down on it a shower of bright stars
- picture 2
- picture 3
with intense perfume and since then the Calycanthus continues to flourish in January delighting our cold winter days and wrapping with his unique and unmistakable fragrance our gardens only apparently dormant.
The original name of the Calycanthus, CHIMONANTHUS, in Greek, which means 'flower of winter', takes us back to the front taxonomic rules in use before than the Middle Ages, betraying an origin that is lost in the mists of time, and it's not, therefore, difficult to imagine as with every chance it could have make even more fabulous the ancient gardens of Babylon and we wonder if it was just this intoxicating scent to captivate travelers who reported stories of those places as a paradise of colors and flavors previously unknown, a paradise for the senses that made it difficult not to lose touch with reality ..
- picture 4
- picture 5
This shrub that almost goes unnoticed during Spring and Summer among many flowered and fragrant, but that is the absolute protagonist of the gardens in January, native of China and cultivated in Japan, we know with certainty that in the West came in the late XVIIIth century, along with many other plants before then here still unknown, praised with fable tones by travelers who used to travel in the lands of the East and its diffusion began with the dawn of the Victorian period, helping to give that touch of exoticism with which the British so loved to personalize their gardens, that touch and atmosphere that still makes unique the gardens of England who have retained their XIXth century mark.
- picture 6
And from England it was then quickly spread to the 'Dominions', first of all in Australia and we can find mention of it in the Hortus Cadmenensis, the illustrated catalog of the plants cultivated by Sir William MacArthur Park at Camden, NSW, Australia, between 1820 and 1861, where we read:
"The learned and instructive Kaempfer* in his Amaen. Exot. that vast fund of most useful information, gives a figure of this plant,
- picture 7 on the left - in which it is represented both with flowers and seed vessels, accompanied with a description and short account of it; from which we learn that it is cultivated in Japan as an ornamental plant, that the flowers are produced in February, before the leaves, that they have the scent of the violet, but become unpleasant on being long smelt to. Hearing that Lord Coventry was the first who possessed this plant in England, I took the liberty of writing to his Lordship in January 1799, to request some information on this point, as well as some others relative to its culture, &tc. On the 13th of the same month, his Lordship had the goodness to send me a beautiful specimen of the plant in bloom, a seedling plant one year old, together with a seed-vessel of the year 1798, and some seeds; in the Earl's letter is the following passage:-"the beauty of the Calycanthus praecox at this moment surpasses all description, it is covered with blossoms from top to bottom, and the fragrance of it may be perceived at the distance of fifty yards from the conservatory." [BM t.466/1800].
‘It was introduced in 1766, and was first cultivated in perfection by the late earl of Coventry, in whose conservatory at Croome, we believe, the original plant is still growing. […] If the plant is sheltered from the weather, or should the winter prove mild, it continues flowering from October to April: the blossoms have a delicious fragrance.’ [LBC no.617/1822]. 1
The British, with all the sweetness of which they only are able to make use in giving names to plants, appointed it 'Wintersweet', and in the language of flowers, delivered to us by the Victorian romanyicism, it symbolizes protection, warm reception, perhaps in memory of the legend which it is related to, thus giving a branch adorned with these humble corollas,
- picture 8
the outer petals of which are of a pale yellow and the innermost ones, describing almost a cup in the center of the calyx, are of a vibrant variegated purple,
- picture 9
means providing loving support, defense, and then, maybe for its scent, or for its symbolic meaning, what better place if not near the entrance of the garden to grow it.
And they were finally the coquettish 'ladies' of the time, who loved to perfume themselves with the most varied and intense flower essences, to disclose the popular tradition which suggests that rubbing one's wrists and ankles with these delicate blooms to capture their scent reinvigorates the spirit and gifts vitality ...
- picture 10 - painting by Jules James Rougeron, 1877
what were they capable of inventing to wrap themselves in perturbing clouds of perfume to make their admirers's head turning !
Hoping to have pleasantly entertained you with these curiosities about a so delicious and special flower, I greet you with affection
See you soon ♥
Notes and quotations:
* Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 – 1716) was a German naturalist, botanist, physician, traveler and writer who left us significant reports about cultures and plants of Asia, especially Japan, whose name is linked to that of Gingko Biloba as he was the first to classify it.
- picture 7 on the left - in which it is represented both with flowers and seed vessels, accompanied with a description and short account of it; from which we learn that it is cultivated in Japan as an ornamental plant, that the flowers are produced in February, before the leaves, that they have the scent of the violet, but become unpleasant on being long smelt to. Hearing that Lord Coventry was the first who possessed this plant in England, I took the liberty of writing to his Lordship in January 1799, to request some information on this point, as well as some others relative to its culture, &tc. On the 13th of the same month, his Lordship had the goodness to send me a beautiful specimen of the plant in bloom, a seedling plant one year old, together with a seed-vessel of the year 1798, and some seeds; in the Earl's letter is the following passage:-"the beauty of the Calycanthus praecox at this moment surpasses all description, it is covered with blossoms from top to bottom, and the fragrance of it may be perceived at the distance of fifty yards from the conservatory." [BM t.466/1800].
‘It was introduced in 1766, and was first cultivated in perfection by the late earl of Coventry, in whose conservatory at Croome, we believe, the original plant is still growing. […] If the plant is sheltered from the weather, or should the winter prove mild, it continues flowering from October to April: the blossoms have a delicious fragrance.’ [LBC no.617/1822]. 1
The British, with all the sweetness of which they only are able to make use in giving names to plants, appointed it 'Wintersweet', and in the language of flowers, delivered to us by the Victorian romanyicism, it symbolizes protection, warm reception, perhaps in memory of the legend which it is related to, thus giving a branch adorned with these humble corollas,
- picture 8
the outer petals of which are of a pale yellow and the innermost ones, describing almost a cup in the center of the calyx, are of a vibrant variegated purple,
- picture 9
means providing loving support, defense, and then, maybe for its scent, or for its symbolic meaning, what better place if not near the entrance of the garden to grow it.
And they were finally the coquettish 'ladies' of the time, who loved to perfume themselves with the most varied and intense flower essences, to disclose the popular tradition which suggests that rubbing one's wrists and ankles with these delicate blooms to capture their scent reinvigorates the spirit and gifts vitality ...
- picture 10 - painting by Jules James Rougeron, 1877
what were they capable of inventing to wrap themselves in perturbing clouds of perfume to make their admirers's head turning !
Hoping to have pleasantly entertained you with these curiosities about a so delicious and special flower, I greet you with affection
See you soon ♥
Notes and quotations:
* Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 – 1716) was a German naturalist, botanist, physician, traveler and writer who left us significant reports about cultures and plants of Asia, especially Japan, whose name is linked to that of Gingko Biloba as he was the first to classify it.
