Thursday, August 19, 2021

Tulip tree 鹅掌楸

Alice Munro 《CARRIED AWAY》 里有这么一段话:

She had confided in him once before that she had been a patient in a sanatorium. Now she told about being in love with a doctor there. The sanatorium was on beautiful grounds up on Hamilton Mountain, and they used to meet there along the hedged walks. Shelves of limestone formed the steps and in sheltered spots there were such plants as you do not commonly see in Ontario - azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias. The doctor knew something about botany and he told here this was the Carolinian vegetarian, Very different from here, lusher, and there were little bits of woodland too, wonderful trees, paths worn under the trees. Tulip trees.

"Tulips!" said Jim Frarey. "Tulips on the trees!"

"No, no, it is the shape of their leaves!"

She laughed at him challengingly, then bit her lip. He saw fit to continue the dialogue, saying, “Tulips on the trees!” while she said, No, it is the leaves that are shaped like tulips, no, I never said that, stop! So they passed into a state of gingerly evaluation—which he knew well and could only hope she did—full of small, pleasant surprises, half-sardonic signals, a welling up of impudent hopes, and a fateful sort of kindness.

azalea 是小叶杜鹃花,是杜鹃花的亚属。rhododendron 是大叶杜鹃花。magnolia 是玉兰,白玉兰居多,Unionville 到处可见。这些都是中国和日本常见的木本花卉。

Tulip tree 不是因为叶子形状像郁金香,请看 wikiepedia 词条。北美从南部到北部,从四月份到六月份开花,花像郁金香花,所以叫 tulip tree。它的中文名叫鹅掌楸,因为它的叶子像鹅掌

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最近我才注意到,在 Pomander 路上某民居的前院长了两棵鹅掌楸。在 Normandale 路上的市属的公共地带里栽了一棵鹅掌楸。我还没看过它们开的花。

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