Muse

  • Of Calyxes, Children and Ukraine

    Among the details I've noticed during the past several years are the  translucent, seemingly fragile sheaths, called calyxes, of leaves and flower buds. A botanist friend confirmed that these are protective enclosures; a kind of plant membrane, if you will. I had already noticed that it takes awhile for each new leaf on my houseplants to fully emerge from its calyx. How painful -and yet wondrous- this natural process appears, at least from the outside...