KING CHARLES &
THE QUEEN OF INDIA
The other day I met Antonio cutting firewood and
he asked if I knew La Reina de India, or Queen of India. I knew he was talking about a
plant, but I couldn't guess which plant it was. I figured it must be especially pretty to
be graced with such a name.
Down the hill and across a field we went, then proudly he presented the Queen growing
on his own land. She's below:
It was a spiny, weedy thistle! But when Antonio pointed to the urn-shaped flowering
heads I understood the name, for it was pineapple-shaped like turbans I've seen Indian
royalty wearing in old pictures.
Then he pointed to the fruiting head in the middle with its involucral bracts pealed
back and its seeds ready to unfurl white parachutes, and said, "Here's Rey
Carlos," that being King Charles. Instantly the British kind of crown, at least its
pointy rim, formed before my eyes.
Thistles are uncommon enough here to be regarded as special. And when you look at them
with unprejudiced eyes, actually they do deserve names offering pretty or interesting
associations. And have you smelled a thistle's flowers? Their perfume is musky, evocative
of deep purple, good enough to close your eyes for as you sniff.
If you need to be reminded of the spininess of certain thistles' leaves, take a look at
this plant's leaves below:
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