IN THE MAGAZINE

AMERICAN EROS - PART 3

From the Hypothermic to the Hypothetical

BY LORD WHIMSY

Lucy the Elephant by the Author; Franklinia tree engraving by James Trenchard from a drawing by William Bartram, provided by the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA; James Rose house © Frederick Charles, fcharles.com; William Bartram portrait by Charles Willson Peale; venus flytrap engraving by Sydenham Edwards; pitcher plant, thread-leafed sundew, and pink lady slipper by the author.

An Aesthetic Ecology

1. Hotchkiss Bicycle Railway: On September 13, 1892, eccentric entrepreneur Hezekiah Smith opened his suspended bicycle commuter railway system built between his bicycle factory and nearby Mount Holly, NJ, home to most of his employees. Several resort towns in southern Jersey soon built their own, but to the best of my knowledge, none survive. A sole remaining rail bike can be seen at Smith’s factory compound, which is now a museum. (An additional note: Smith went on to become a bigamist, keep a small harem in his walled garden, and train a bull moose to pull his carriage. Just thought that might be of interest.)

2. Lucy the Elephant: Lucy the 60-foot-tall elephant was built in 1881 by a Philadelphia real estate developer who wanted to lure people down to the island fishing village of Margate, NJ. Two more such giant elephants were built: the larger, Elephantine Colossus, on Coney Island and the smaller, Light of Asia, in Cape May, NJ. Of the three, only Lucy remains. Over the past century, she has weathered countless storms and served as a hotel, private residence, summer home, and speakeasy. In 1970, the land Lucy stood on was sold, and the people of Margate scraped enough money together to have Lucy moved two blocks south onto a municipal lot, where she stands today. Two years ago, Lucy’s howdah was struck by lightning. Tours are given through the summer months. They have Lucy key chains, too.

3. Franklinia Tree (Franklina alatamaha): An Ice Age plant related to the loblolly bay, once native to the Altamaha River in Georgia. Extinct in the wild since 1803. Brought into cultivation by 18th-century explorer and naturalist William Bartram, about 5,000 individual plants remain worldwide, all of which are thought to be descended from the seeds and saplings collected and cultivated by Bartram. The white and gold blooms appear in late summer, just as the foliage starts to turn a fiery red. It also has a beautiful striped bark. Notoriously hard to grow, as they are very susceptible to root rot. Franklinia can be seen in bloom at Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia to this day.

4. James Rose: Landscape architect James Rose’s house blurs the division between inside and outside: It isn’t as much a house as it is a garden with nooks to nuzzle into. Like traditional Japanese houses, the relationship with nature is intimate: Plants intrude into the interiors, and rooms open up to the garden beds. Rose’s work was known for its improvisation and open-endedness. His houses were constantly transforming and were never truly finished. His famous quote: “Neither landscape nor architecture, but both; neither indoors, nor outdoors, but both.” The James Rose Center is in Ridgewood, NJ.

5. William Bartram: Eighteenth-century Quaker explorer and naturalist. He’s best known for his expeditions through the southern American colonies and for his vivid accounts of the flora, fauna, and people he found there, which were very influential among the Romantics in Europe. The Seminole chief Ahaya, upon hearing of Bartram’s intentions while in his lands, laughed and dubbed him Puc-puggee, “The Flower Hunter.” Bartram discovered and introduced into cultivation many rare native plants, most notably the Franklinia tree, which, as I just mentioned, was extinct in the wild by 1803. His home, Bartram’s Garden, is now a green, quiet oasis in a sea of asphalt in West Philly. It’s the oldest remaining botanical garden in North America. The sprig of flowers in his waistcoat is poet’s jasmine. I really like the look on his face in this Peale portrait: a gentle but brave soul.

6. Venus Flytrap (Dionea muscipula): Originally called the tipitiwitchet and Aphrodite’s mousetrap, the Venus flytrap (called that for obvious reasons) is native to the coastal bogs of the Carolinas. Each toothed lobe of the leaf contains three small hairs. If two of those three hairs are tripped by an insect within 20 seconds of one another, the cells in the hinge of the trap constrict, closing the trap.

7. Pitcher Plant (Genus sarracenia): Pitcher plants are native to North America, ranging from Canada to Florida. They absorb the nitrogen and nutrients found in the insects that get trapped in the enzyme-rich fluids of their pitchers, which are modified leaves. This is an adaptation to their native bog habitat, which is highly acidic and poor in nutrients.

8. Thread-leafed Sundew (Drosera filiformis): Thread-leafed sundew are native to the bogs of the eastern US. They secrete a sweet but very sticky fluid that traps small insects and eventually breaks them down for the absorption of their nutrients. Like all insectivorous North American plants, their habitats are very fragile and perpetually threatened.

9. Pink Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acuale): The pink lady slipper orchid can be found in old-growth open forests of the eastern US. They are nearly impossible to cultivate because they are dependent on a specific kind of soil fungus that helps them absorb nutrients. They bloom in mid-May.


TO BE CONTINUED
AMERICAN EROS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

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