[aroid-l] Dr. Bogner's Fest

From: Al Wootten <awootten at nrao.edu> on 2004.03.08 at 17:18:51(11238) The exploits of many of you in this group make a group devoted to aroid taxonomy and culture much more interesting than it might sound to many. I've secretly always wanted to traipse through the jungle myself, to witness exotic plants in their natural habitat. Several members were in Munich last Friday, where that very afternoon one of the more famous of these taxonomist adventurers, Josef Bogner, was to be given an honorary doctorate at the wonderful Munich Botanical Garden. I had been at a 'retreat' for the ALMA telescope at Schloss Elmau, further south in the Bavarian Alps. The meeting dragged; my presentation was among the last and I was three hours late, of course, when I arrived. I wasn't sure in which building the ceremony was to be held so I went to the Greenhouse, which holds a marvelous aroid collection, but it closed just as I approached. No one there knew English, and to my regret I have never learned German, but one older gentleman present perked up at the name Bogner. Certainly, he would take me to the ceremony, he signed. We tried one back entrance, but couldn't get in. He knew of a secret entrance though and soon we entered the lecture hall. We could hear applause in an adjacent room; clearly I had missed the lectures and was late. Arrayed on the table at the front were an assortment of plants which Bogner had discovered or which were named for him, books on aroids, herbarium specimens. Among them were Ulearum sagittatum Engler, Stylochaeton bogneri Mayo, Gonatopus rizomatosus Bogner et Oberm., a blooming Kalanchoë bogneri and A. konjac (I think...) along with an enormous A. konjac tuber the size of my forearm. There was also a blank book. This was the guest book, my guide told me, and I should certainly sign it as I had clearly come a long way to see Bogner at his fest. I did. He left and I went around to the front, where assembled on a great ornate stairway was a crowd drinking champagne. On the landing was a hearty elderly gentleman I took to be Bogner. One by one, members of the crowd were mounting the landing to tell stories. Speaking no German, I can only imaging what their content was, but clearly they had a number of great punch lines. A few gifts were proffered, among them a candle in a small flowerpot with a backguard in the spathe of an aroid 'flower', the candle representing the spadix. I knew that Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden was to be here, Simon Mayo, who had been at Kew, and Petra Schmidt of Plant Delights nursery in Raleigh were to be there. However, not having seen the talks and not having met the people, I didn't recognize them I circulated for a while wearing my conference nametag. I couldn't discern anyone speaking English so I returned to the lecture hall to admire the plants again. Just as I was examining the herbarium speciments, Bogner himself entered, to the delight of the three or four others in the room. He generously greeted me by tagged name and I congratulated him on his degree. After a few moments more, I took the N17 tram outside the gates which, I discovered, went right back to the railway station. That evening I strolled back down to the central Marienplatz square in Munich, a delightful area. I had thought of eating in the basement of the Rathaus (City Hall), a fantastic structure dominating the square with a facade of ornate medieval appearance. But I was unable to locate a place to sit. I've always enjoyed the atmosphere, beer and food (that order) at the Hofbraeuhaus a few blocks away, so I headed there. By now it was very cold but the camaraderie inside dispelled the cold instantly. I sat amidst a group which must have been a soccer team, had a great dunkle (dark) beer, a salad, porkchop marinated in beer and baked potatoes with sour cream. It was delightful. My Bavarian experience was complete, I felt, and it was time to return home. After all, there was yet another three day ALMA meeting awaiting me in Charlottesville the next week. Clear skies, Al +More +---------------------------------------------------------+ |Al Wootten, Slacktide, Sturgeon Creek at the Rappahannock| |Astronomer (http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/) | |genealogy homepage http://members.tripod.com/~astral | |Deltaville, Virginia (804)776-6369 | +---------------------------------------------------------+

Note: this is a very old post, so no reply function is available.