Notes and Pictures Pertinent to Hulme's CONVERSION

HYACINTH (PLANT)
from wikipedia

common hyacinth

 

Hyacinthus is a genus of bulbous flowering plants, formerly placed in the lily family Liliaceae but now regarded as the type genus of the separate family Hyacinthaceae.^[1] They are commonly called Hyacinths, and are native to the eastern Mediterranean region, west Iran, and Turkmenistan.

Three species are within the genus Hyacinthus:

• Hyacinthus litwinowii
• Hyacinthus orientalis - Common, Dutch or Garden Hyacinth
• Hyacinthus transcaspicus

Some authorities place H. litwonowii and H. transcaspicus in the related genus Hyacinthella, which would make Hyacinthus a monotypic genus.

The related grape hyacinths (Muscari), sometimes called baby's-breath, are very low, mostly blue-flowered plants similar in appearance to hyacinths and are also commonly cultivated.

"Princezna Hyacinta,"
by Alphonse Mucha



The Dutch, or Common Hyacinth of house and garden culture (H. orientalis, native to southwest Asia) was so popular in the 18th century that over 2,000 cultivars were cultivated in the Netherlands, its chief commercial producer. This hyacinth has a single dense spike of fragrant flowers in shades of red, blue, white, orange, pink, violet, or yellow. A form of the common hyacinth is the less hardy and smaller blue- or white-petalled Roman hyacinth of florists. These flowers should have indirect sunlight and are to be moderately watered.

Several types of brodiea, deathcamas, squill, and other plants that were formerly classified in the lily family and have flower clusters borne along the stalk also have common names with hyacinth in them.

Hyacinths are sometimes associated with rebirth. The Hyacinth flower is used in the Haftseen table setting for the Persian New Year celebration Norouz held during the Spring Equinox.

Hyacinth bulbs contain oxalic acid^[2], which can cause mild irritation to people with sensitive skin. Protective gloves may be worn to avoid irritation.

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Myth Associate with Hyacinth

hyacinth macaws

Hyacinth was a beautiful youth loved by both the god Apollo and the West Wind, Zephyr. Apollo and Hyacinth took turns at throwing the discus. Hyacinth ran to catch it to impress Apollo, but he was struck by the discus as it fell to the ground, and died.^[3] A twist in the tale makes the wind god Zephyrus responsible for the death of Hyacinth.^[4] The youth's beauty caused a feud between Zephyrus and Apollo. Jealous that Hyacinth preferred the radiant archery god Apollo, Zephyrus blew Apollo's discus off course, so as to injure and kill Hyacinth. Apollo did not allow Hades to claim Hyacinth. Instead, Apollo made a flower, the hyacinth, from Hyacinth's spilled blood.



(I got the pictures from all over, not wikipedia.)

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Hyacinth

click to enlarge -- really large

from the Oxford English Online Etymology Dictionary:

1550s; earlier jacinth (early 13c.), from Gk. hyakinthos, probably ultimately from a non-I.E. Mediterranean language. Used in ancient Greece of a blue gem, perhaps sapphire, and of a purple or deep red flower, but exactly which one is unknown (gladiolus, iris, and larkspur have been suggested). Fabled to have sprouted from the blood of Hyakinthos, youth beloved by Apollo and accidentally slain by him. The flower is said to have the letters "AI" or "AIAI" on its petals. The modern use in reference to a flowering plant genus is from 1578.

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The Bosphorus 

from wikipedia


A Night Scene on the Bosphorus (at This Spot
State Criminals are Thrown into the Bosphorus),
by F.J. Havell



The Bosphorus or Bosporus (Greek: Βόσπορος, Bosporos, Bulgarian: Босфора, Босфора), also known as the Istanbul Strait (Turkish: İstanbul Boğazı), is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles. The world's narrowest strait used for international navigation, it connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (which is connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea, and thereby to the Mediterranean Sea).

Bosphorus' limits are defined as the connecting line between the lighthouses Rumeli Feneri and Anadolu Feneri in the north and between the Ahırkapı Feneri and the Kadıköy İnciburnu Feneri in the south. The strait is between the limits 31 km (17 nmi) long, with a width of 3,329 m (1.798 nmi) at the northern entrance and 2,826 m (1.526 nmi) at the southern entrance. Its maximum width is 3,420 m (1.85 nmi) between Umuryeri and Büyükdere Limanı, and minimum width 704 m (0.380 nmi) between Kandilli Point and Aşiyan.^[1]

The depth of Bosphorus varies from 36 to 124 m (118 to 407 ft) in midstream with an average of 65 m (213 ft). The deepest location is between Kandilli and Bebek with 110 m (360 ft). The most shallow locations are off Kadıköy İnciburnu on the northward route with 18 m (59 ft) and off Aşiyan Point on the southward route with 13 m (43 ft)^[1]

The shores of the strait are heavily populated as the city of Istanbul (with a metropolitan area in excess of 11 million inhabitants) straddles it.

The name comes from Greek Bosporos (Βόσπορος),^[2] which the ancient Greeks analysed as bous βοῦς 'ox' + poros πόρος 'means of passing a river, ford, ferry', thus meaning 'ox-ford'. Although it has been known for a while that the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara flow into each other in an example of a density flow, findings of a study by the University of Leeds in August 2010 reveal that there is in fact an underwater river flowing through the Mediterranean and under the Bosphorus caused by the difference in density of the two seas, which would be the sixth largest river on Earth if it were to be on land.^[3]

It has also been thought to be a Thracian form of Phôsphoros (Φωσφόρος), "light-bearing", an epithet of the goddess Hecate.^{[citation needed]}