Bougainvillea Near My House
by Esther Newman-Cohen
Title
Bougainvillea Near My House
Artist
Esther Newman-Cohen
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
I just love the rich colors of bougainvillea. I took this photo on a walk near my house in a suburb of Jerusalem.
These flowers are native to South America. I read this fascinating description of its history in Wikipedia: The first European to describe these plants was Philibert Commerçon, a botanist accompanying French Navy admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville during his voyage of circumnavigation of the Earth, and first published by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789. It is possible that the first European to observe these plants was Jeanne Baret, Commerçon's lover and assistant, who was an expert in botany. Because she was not allowed on ship as a woman, she disguised herself as a man in order to make the journey (and thus became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe).
Uploaded
November 30th, 2020
Embed
Share