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Saturday, July 13, 2024

Dahlia ! - No problem - மலர்களே மலர்களே

Steven Kapur  is a British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s and is best known   for the song "Boom Shack-A-Lak”. 

மலர்களே மலர்களே இது என்ன கனவா

மலைகளே மலைகளே இது என்ன நினைவா

உருகியதே எனதுள்ளம்… பெருகியதே விழி வெள்ளம்

 


All flowers are beautiful – not  all flowers are fragrant!   Spaniards reported finding the plants growing in Mexico in 1525, but the earliest known description is by Francisco Hernández, physician to Philip II, who was ordered to visit Mexico in 1570 to study the "natural products of that country". They were used as a source of food by the indigenous peoples, who both gathered wild specimens and cultivated crops.  The indigenous peoples variously identified the plants as "Chichipatl" (Toltecs) and "Acocotle" or "Cocoxochitl" (Aztecs). From Hernandez's perception of Nahuatl to Spanish (through various other translations) the word is "water cane", "water pipe", "water pipe flower", "hollow stem flower", or "cane flower", all referring to the hollow plant stems. 

In 1787, the French botanist Nicolas-Joseph Thiéry de Menonville, sent to Mexico to steal the cochineal insect valued for its scarlet dye, reported the strangely beautiful flowers he had seen growing in a garden in Oaxaca.  In 1789, Vicente Cervantes, director of the Botanical Garden at Mexico City, sent "plant parts" to Abbe Antonio José Cavanilles, director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid.  Cavanilles flowered one plant that same year, then the second one a year later. In 1791 he called the new growths "Dahlia" for Anders Dahl.  The first plant was called Dahlia pinnata after its pinnate foliage; the second, Dahlia rosea for its rose-purple color. 

It has evolved over the years and has wide spread across the globe as an ornamental flower – “Dahlia”  is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. As a member of the Asteraceae (synonym name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants,  its relatives include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. There are 49 species of dahlia  with flowers in almost every hue (except blue), with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants.

Dahlias were known to the Aztecs until their Spanish conquest, after which the plants were brought to Europe. The (high in sugar) tubers of some varieties are of value to humans.  The first tubers were sent over to Europe by Spanish settlers in Mexico. Before insulin, the tubers of dahlias were used to balance blood sugar due to their high fructose content. The petals were used to treat dry skin, infections, rashes, and insect bites. 

They are not all that fragrant yet its leaves and stems are used in  commercially made fragrances.  The song at the start was from movie ‘Love Birds’   directed by P. Vasu starring  Prabhu Deva and Nagma released in 1996. The film was average  commercially.  It was a  remake of the 1986 Kannada film Ratha Sapthami for which Vasu was the co-screenwriter.  Steven Kapur described at the start better  known by the stage name Apache Indian was featured and sung the song ‘No Problem, no problem’ !

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
13.7.2024 

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