George Joseph Kamel

Camellia sasanqua 'Cotton Candy'

~~~~~

A poem written by Carol Snow titled Tour and the same poem read by Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the United States (who has been mentioned in these pages before).  About camellias (of course).

~~~~~

From the Catholic Encylopedia (written by E.P. Spillane. Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III. Published 1908. New York: Robert Appleton Company) regarding George Joseph Kamel:

Botanist, born at Brünn, in Moravia, 21 April 1661, died in Manila, 2 May, 1706. He entered the Society of Jesus as a lay brother in 1682. Although sometimes spoken of as "Father Camellus" it is not sure that he was ever a priest. He was sent as a missionary to the Philippine Islands six years later. There he took up the study of the plants and the natural history of the Islands and sent the results of his investigations to Europe where they were published in the "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society" (London). In his honour, Linnaeus gave the name Camellia to a genus of evergreen shrubs remarkable for the beauty of their flowers, among them being the well-known Japan rose (Camellia Japonica). The mere enumeration of Camel's contributions to the pages of the "Philosophical Transactions" is ample evidence of the industry of this simple missionary and his orderly method of investigation. Besides many treatises on the plants and animals of the islands, Camel left two bulky volumes on the "Medicinal Plants of the Philippine Islands", which were published in part in the "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society" (London) and in the "Historia Plantarum" of Ray. In the library of the Jesuits at Louvain there is a manuscript collection of his drawings, representing 360 varieties of plants and herbs of the Island of Luzon. Ray published the text of the work, but omitted the drawings. Camel established a pharmacy in Manila where the poor were supplied with remedies gratis.

~~~~~

He probably never saw a camellia.

~~~~~

I guess I missed his 300th...I wonder how hard it would be to get ahold of a copy of the documentary -- with subtitles?  Wait.  Here.  Anyone willing to translate if there are no subtitles?

~~~~~

Camellias are the heart and soul of many Lowcountry gardens, P.J. Gartin, Post and Courier, 28 October 2007

~~~~~

Now, I'm off to read about the Human Microbiome Project (and, more recently, here).  It's relevant to our work on the microorganisms of the bottlenose dolphin upper respiratory tract fluids - we need another mammal for comparison...so why not a human?

Comments

[Annie in Austin]

Your 'Cotton Candy' is a beauty, and I liked that poem by Carol Snow - thank you, Pam. I'm thrilled to announce that my sasanqua has buds this year and so does the japonica, which is pretty darn good for an Austin garden.

The Low Country article by P.J. Gartin brought up the pronunciation question - which one do you use? Do you say ca-MEL-ya or ca-MEEL-ya?

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[Taylor]

Camellias are the loss I have felt most keenly in this move. Somehow the colder weather was almost OK because you had the flowers to look forward to. I miss them.

[Pam]

Annie: I think I remember you talking about your Camellias - and I'm happy to hear that they have buds! Congrats for sure. I can't remember - but were they in the ground, or in pots? You'll be the envy of the neighborhood this winter when they bloom! Oh, and I definitely say ca-MEEL-ya. Until I read that article, I hadn't even been aware of the other pronunciation.

Taylor: Yeah - when I moved south, I found camellias just amazing - I mean, different ones bloom from October through...April or so! How nice is that? I'll keep posting them, hopefully that will help you a bit! Stay warm.