一花一帝国

Host： We start by going back in time to 1837. Place yourself in South America in what was then called British Guyana. Were in a boat sailing along the backwaters of one of the worlds largest rivers. As were 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）： Its a vast plant that grows in still river basins in the Amazon， and actually all over South America. The leaves are—its 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 Royal Geographical

Society. And then， a…a picture of it kind of takes off in Victorian England. It wasnt just taking off. I mean， the whole country went 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， its also discovering new flowers all the time. And so these are appearing in the press with lots and lots of fanfare， and everybodys getting excited about the petunia. I mean， theres nothing more…more amazing than…than this petunia or the 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. Thats 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 its a new genus， then they call it Victoria Regia， and there we are， the perfect storm.

Host： Now theres 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 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. Thats a bit of an 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 horizontal expanse with minimal 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， fad， really， thats 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 modernity， in a way， arose from the Crystal Palace， then you can kind of say that modernity started in a swamp.

Host： Thats incredible！

主持人：首先，讓我们回到1837年。想象你置身于南美洲当时的英属圭亚那，我们正在世界上最大的河流之一——亚马逊河的偏僻河段航行。划着船前行时，我们遇到了生长在这个静水流域的一些巨型花朵，巨大的叶子呈圆形，承重力很强，实际上可以承受住一个小孩子的重量。

这种花在19世纪时的学名是维多利亚王莲，表示对维多利亚女王的敬意。它成为了大英帝国的一个象征。

塔提安娜·霍尔维（《帝国之花》作者）：这是生长在亚马逊河静水流域的一种大型植物，实际上它分布在整个南美洲的静水流域。它的叶子——这是睡莲的一种——它的叶子直径最少有五英尺（约1.5米），有时可达六七英尺，开花时花朵约十八英寸（约0.5米），刚开放时呈白色，之后会变为粉红色，而且颜色越来越深，散发出浓郁的凤梨香味。

主持人：在19世纪中期的时候，英国没有人见过类似这种王莲的花卉。德国博物学者罗伯特·肖姆伯克在为英国皇家地理学会进行的一次探险中发现了它。之后，它的一幅图片在维多利亚时期的英国引起了不小的轰动，不仅仅是引起轰动，我的意思是，整个英国简直是为它而痴狂。

霍尔维：确实如此，王莲掀起如此热潮是因为它恰逢一个完美的时机，当时所有的因素一起作用，刮起了这场“完美风暴”。首先，英国人本来就对花卉非常热衷。其次，英国在扩张帝国版图、扩大探索开拓的同时，也一直在发掘新的花卉品种。媒体对新的品种大肆宣传，当时新发现的矮牵牛花就让人们兴奋不已。……