Hercules, The Dynamic City on the Bay

I read in this morning’s edition of the Halifax Chronicle Herald that a Rembrandt drawing, stolen from a San Francisco hotel, had been recovered from a church near Hercules, California. Hercules? I did a quick search to find out whence Hercules, CA received its name and was amused to discover that Hercules, CA is a town founded by the California Powder Works, makers of explosives; apparently one of its products was called Hercules, presumably because it was as effective as the demi-god Hercules (also known as Heracles in Greek mythology) at blasting things apart. Remembering how Hercules cleaned the filthy Augean stables by diverting two rivers to flow through the building, I guess Hercules is a good brand name for dynamite.

Ghosts from the Past

Walking my dog Buddy along the road in rural Nova Scotia, I noticed wild cranberries and blueberries growing and then I saw Indian pipes, a plant first identified for me by my father when I was a child. I see them rarely, but after a little research discovered that they do occur regularly in Nova Scotia woods. The scientific classification for this odd plant is monotropa uniflora, a wonderful combination of both Greek and Latin roots. Greek mono is one, and tropa means a turning; Latin uni is one, and flora is flowered. These two words describe the appearance of the little plant, each stalk of which contains a single, down-turned flower. The common names for this plant are a little frightening, and include ghost flower and corpse plant. Almost any article you read about Indian pipes is FULL of scientific terminology derived from Greek and Latin. Here is one from the U.S. Forest Service.