His interview with the Magnolia of Lake
Pontchartrain was most romantic. And what he said of the
Yuca seems to me so pretty, that I will write it down, though
somewhat more concisely than he told it:--
'"I had kept these plants of the Yuca Filamentosa six or seven
years, though they had never bloomed. I knew nothing of them,
and had no notion of what feelings they would excite. Last
June I found in bud the one which had the most favorable
exposure. A week or two after, another, which was more in the
shade, put out flower-buds, and I thought I should be able to
watch them, one after the other; but, no! the one which was
most favored waited for the other, and both flowered together
at the full of the moon. This struck me as very singular, but
as soon as I saw the flower by moonlight I understood it. This
flower is made for the moon, as the Heliotrope is for the sun,
and refuses other influences or to display her beauty in any
other light.
'"The first night I saw it in flower, I was conscious of a
peculiar delight, I may even say rapture. Many white flowers
are far more beautiful by day; the lily, for instance, with
its firm, thick leaf, needs the broadest light to manifest its
purity.
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73