Page 54 - Растения Сахалинской области в легендах и мифах
P. 54

One of the Jesuit Fathers was sent to Canada to teach Christianity to
                    the Indians. In his passionate desire to convey the Word of God, he went

                    to unknown lands and met a people that did not understand a word of
                    the language spoken by the neighboring settlements. Desperate to find
                    contact with them, Holy Father saw beautiful flowers with four petals in
                    the shape of a cross. He thought that with its help he could explain how
                    Christ was crucified. But the inhabitants were upset by this cruel story,
                    and they began to avoid the priest. Then he tore off one of the petals to

                    tell them about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And the leaves
                    helped to show the miracle of the birth of Christ. The second attempt was
                    successful, and the father began to pray that the Indians would forever
                    have a sign reminding them of his teachings. Tohis amazement, he saw
                    that all the flowers, like the one he had used, now had only three petals.






            Viburnum wrightii


            (Viburnum wrightii Miq.)                                                       V




                                                               Deciduous  shrub  up  to
                                                            1.5–2  m  in  height.  Leaves
                                                            are  simple,  whole,  almost
                                                             round,  elongated-acute-terminal  at  the  apex,
                                                             serratetoothed  along  the  edge,  5–6  cm  long.
                                                             Inflorescence is a complex umbel up to 15 cm
                                                             wide,  on  a  common  peduncle  up  to  2–5  cm
                                                             long. Corolla is white, wheel-shaped, 5–7 mm

                                                             in  diameter,  with  rounded  petals.  Fruits  are
                                                             bright red, almost spherical, juicydrupes.
                                                               Occurs on the northern border of the areal:
                                                             south of Sakhalin Island (environs of Yuzhno-
                                                             Sakhalinsk, Dolinsky, Kholmsky, Anivsky and
                                                             Nevelsky  districts),  island  Moneron,  Kuril
                                                             Islands  (Urup,  Iturup,  Kunashir).  Outside
                                                             of  Russia,  it  is  distributed  in  the  mountains
                                                             of the Korean Peninsula and on the adjacent
                                                             islands of the Japanese Sea, as well as in the
                                                             mountainous  regions  of  all  major  islands  of
                                                             Japan.


            52
   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59