THE CENTURY FLOWER.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12704, 12 March 1904, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE CENTURY FLOWER.

Upon the calcined rock’s extremest height Where the volcanic river ceased to flow, Was blown to Gualatieri long ago A seed that rooted and reached >rp for light. Thence grew a plant whose roots were fed on night, Whose leaves drank sunlight for a hundred years, And now, at long long last her stalk uprears One scarlet bud, colossal to the sight. She quickens in the burning air. Behold, The giant pistil moves, their dust of gold . . The stamens loose, but squander it in vain. i There is no mate to take this golden rain. In one day dies this blossom without peers Of whom the aloe dreamed a hundred years. I —Nora Chesson, in “The Pilot.”