Acanthus

According to the American Heritage Dictionary (Fourth Edition), "acanthus" is any of various Mediterranean shrubs with large, segmented, thistlelike leaves. Above is a photo of an example of the specimen, borrowed from wikimedia.

Have you ever seen an acanthus? I'm not sure that I have. Then again, I may have ignored it as I passed by, subconsciously letting it blend into the green schema of my surroundings. When I was growing up, with a backyard containing plants of some variety, I usually tended to admire the greenery without looking to identify the names of everything. The only exception to this visual feast of mostly nameless entities took shape in the form of one medium-sized, whitish-barked tree: the birch tree. I learned to identify a birch tree on my 5th grade camping trip, when one of my friend's grandfathers pointed out the distinctive pointy leaf and peeled back the bark so we could inhale the vague minty scent. Subsequent to this multi-sensory bit of learning, I found a birch tree in my backyard and felt a little accomplished and erudite as I passed it, able to identify it through a three-point system: leaf, color, and scent.

The acanthus plant seems to be a low-lying form of growth not native to the United States. It derives from the Mediterranean region, an area of the world that is intriguing to me, but that I have yet to visit. Perhaps one day I will lounge by the Mediterranean sea and catch a glimpse of acanthus in a nearby garden. I'll look at these fancy leaves that inspired ancient Greek artisans to carve similar leafy patterns on the tops of stone columns in the Corinthian style.