"They seek him here, they seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That demned elusive Pimpernel!"
I was reminded of this quotation as I was ski-walking around the yard yesterday, observing the natural beauty of this maritime location, because I spied at first one and then a whole plot of a tiny reddish flower called...the scarlet pimpernel, anagallis arvensis! The Latin genus name Anagallis seems to mean "laughter," and arvensis is an adjective meaning "of the ploughed land."
The Scarlet Pimpernel, a novel by Baroness Orczy, from which the quote above comes, was a favorite classic novel about intrigue during the French Revolution. An English noble is known only by his seal, a small flower, as he rescues French nobles from the guillotine. Several film versions exist; my favorite was made in 1934, starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon. In one scene Merle Oberon is inspecting a portrait in the library when she observes a tiny scarlet pimpernel in the corner, and she has a sudden key insight. I always thought that a scarlet pimpernel was a made-up literary plant, but after reading my neighbor's reference book on weeds of Nova Scotia, I was delighted to learn that these little flowers grow wildly and abundantly around the world, including here in my backyard.
