The Mystery Plant

Some years ago you went to the island of St. John with a friend. Together you snorkeled with hawkbill sea turtles, and hiked, and sailed. Early one morning you went bird-watching with a guide who pointed out a plant, the leaf of which, she said, would grow in air if you pinned it to a curtain in the sun.

You put a leaf from this plant in a zip lock bag and brought it home. Then you forgot about it. One day long after you and your friend said good-bye and you were feeling sad, you remembered the leaf. You took it out of the zip lock bag and put it in the sun.

Nothing happened.

After a while you decided to put it on some dirt and moisten it. Soon the mystery plant started to grow.

You showed the plant to your daughter, who had also been to St. John several times. You told her you thought it was called an air plant. She said she thought it was called a life tree.

The mystery plant/tree kept growing and you began to grow more mystery plant/trees from its leaves. On several occasions you tried to look up the mystery plant/tree on the Internet, but you were never able to figure out precisely what it was. The only thing you knew for sure was that it wasn’t The Toilet Tree that is so prominently featured in Is That A Dead Dog in Your Locker (ß plug).

Meanwhile the mystery plant/tree has continued to grow, and indeed, now it does look more like a mystery tree. You have several dozen of them. If anyone out there in the blogosphere knows what the mystery tree really is, you would like to hear from them.

Mr. Bill says, “Boring!”