一花一帝國

Host： We start by going back in time to 1837. Place yourself in South America in what was then called 1）British Guyana. We’re in a boat sailing along the 2）backwaters of one of the world’s largest rivers. As we’re paddling along， we come across these huge flowers growing in the still river basins. The leaves are huge and circular， strong enough to support the weight of a small child in fact.

The original 19th century scientific name for this flower was Victoria Regia， in honour of Queen Victoria， and it became a symbol of the British Empire.

Tatiana Holway （Author of The Flower of Empire）： It’s a vast plant that grows in still river basins in the Amazon， and actually all over South America. The leaves are—it’s a water lily—and the leaves are 5 feet across， at least， sometimes 6， sometimes even 7. And the flower is about 18 inches when it blooms， and it blooms in， first in white and then in shades of pink， darker and darker and darker， and has a beautiful smell of pineapples， very rich.

Host： If we take ourselves back to the mid-19th century， no one in England had seen a flower quite like this. It was discovered by German naturalist Robert Schomburgk， who was on an expedition for the 3）Royal Geographical

Society. And then， a...a picture of it kind of takes off in Victorian England. It wasn’t just taking off. I mean， the whole country went 4）gaga for it.

Holway： They sure did， and it was a matter of just perfect timing； all the conditions coming together for a perfect storm. First of all， in Britain already， flowers were...were a craze. And， at the same time that Britain is expanding its empire and expanding its explorations， it’s also discovering new flowers all the time. And so these are appearing in the press with lots and lots of 5）fanfare， and everybody’s getting excited about the 6）petunia. I mean， there’s nothing more...more amazing than...than this petunia or the 7）begonia. So already the conditions are promising for a flower like this. Add the fact of where it was discovered， Guyana， and then the timing. That’s the key. This was 1837. It was discovered when Victoria was a princess still. And in the six weeks between the time that the news of the discovery left Guyana and arrived in London， Victoria had become Queen. Then they discover it’s a new 8）genus， then they call it Victoria Regia， and there we are， the perfect storm.

Host： Now there’s another beat to this story， which is really interesting. This flower， Victoria Regia， actually prompted the construction of Crystal Palace in London. This is 1851.

Holway： It was all glass.

Host： Yeah.

Holway： It was the largest building ever built. It was 18 acres. It was built for the 9）Great Exhibition of Industry of 1851， and it was temporary. It was taken down after a year， and the design was based on the structure of the leaf of the water lily.

Host： Ex...Explain that. I mean， how do you take a...this kind of thing that grows in nature and it becomes kind of the...the basis for a building？

Holway： Ahh， well， as the architect himself put it， Joseph Paxton， nature was the engineer. That’s a bit of an

10）oversimplification， but he is also the one who brought the lily to bloom for the first time in Britain， and having done so， the lily was getting bigger and bigger under his care， so he built for Victoria Regia a special new Victoria Regia house. And he had a breakthrough in design based on...on the lily leaf， which can support quite a bit of weight...on the water. So， thinking along those lines， he figured out a way to have a roof， a wide 11）horizontal 12）expanse with minimal 13）vertical supports. And that was the big design breakthrough in this lily house， which was quite small. But when it came to the Crystal Palace， it was just many， many， many of those lily houses all joined together.

Host： So you...you see then， you must see， a direct link between the discovery of this flower， the enthusiasm in England for it， and then， kind of， I mean， buildings that have gone up here in the United States， glass buildings， this whole， kind of architectural， kind of， 14）fad， really， that’s been going on since the 50s.

Holway： Absolutely， and...and even before—museums， malls， all those things. They all...they all come from the Crystal Palace in many ways. So， if you follow the line of reasoning that the Crystal Palace arose from the water lily， and that 15）modernity， in a way， arose from the Crystal Palace， then you can kind of say that modernity started in a 16）swamp.

Host： That’s incredible！

主持人：首先，讓我們回到1837年。想象你置身于南美洲當時的英屬圭亞那，我們正在世界上最大的河流之一——亞馬遜河的偏僻河段航行。劃著船前行時，我們遇到了生長在這個靜水流域的一些巨型花朵，巨大的葉子呈圓形，承重力很強，實際上可以承受住一個小孩子的重量。

這種花在19世紀時的學名是維多利亞王蓮，表示對維多利亞女王的敬意。它成為了大英帝國的一個象征。

塔提安娜·霍爾維（《帝國之花》作者）：這是生長在亞馬遜河靜水流域的一種大型植物，實際上它分布在整個南美洲的靜水流域。它的葉子——這是睡蓮的一種——它的葉子直徑最少有五英尺（約1.5米），有時可達六七英尺，開花時花朵約十八英寸（約0.5米），剛開放時呈白色，之后會變為粉紅色，而且顏色越來越深，散發出濃郁的鳳梨香味。

主持人：在19世紀中期的時候，英國沒有人見過類似這種王蓮的花卉。德國博物學者羅伯特·肖姆伯克在為英國皇家地理學會進行的一次探險中發現了它。之后，它的一幅圖片在維多利亞時期的英國引起了不小的轟動，不僅僅是引起轟動，我的意思是，整個英國簡直是為它而癡狂。

霍爾維：確實如此，王蓮掀起如此熱潮是因為它恰逢一個完美的時機，當時所有的因素一起作用，刮起了這場“完美風暴”。首先，英國人本來就對花卉非常熱衷。其次，英國在擴張帝國版圖、擴大探索開拓的同時，也一直在發掘新的花卉品種。媒體對新的品種大肆宣傳，當時新發現的矮牽牛花就讓人們興奮不已。……