Epiphyte
A plant not rooted to the ground but rather to another plant.
Found in River of Doubt, a book about Theodore Roosevelt’s exploration of the South American river which today bears his name, six years after leaving the White House. Roosevelt was a naturalist with great understanding of natural sciences and no fear of the unknown.
I’ve also recently read the article written by Roosevelt for the February 1916 issue of National Geographic entitled, «How Old Is Man?» I’ve commented before that it’s somewhat mindblowing to think that once upon a time there was a President of the United States who was knowledgeable enough about natural sciences to write for National Geographic, but this following passage really made me sad about the state of American political leadership:
Finally, there are books dealing with the general subjectexcellent booksbut none of them possessing all the qualities which are essential to the full understanding of the problem. Lord Avebury’s «Prehistoric Times» was written when it was still necessary to argue with those who disbelieved in the antiquity of man, their reasons being substantially similar to those of the other conservatives who a couple centuries earlier treated as impious the statement that the earth went round the sun.
Can anyone imagine George W Bush comparing the Intelligent Design folks thusly?
