Mahonia a little bit of Irish American history, Jefferson and Lewis and Clark

Mahonia japonica Japanese mahonia, the leather leaf Mahonis, and the Oregon grape is a hardy winter flowering shrub and member of the Berberidaceae.

The genus Mahonia contains about 100 species of evergreen shrubs found in woodlands and rocky areas of the Himalayas, east Asia, Central and North America.

The fruits are blue-black, small and round, which can be eaten raw or cooked. They have a pleasanlty acid flavour and can be added muesli or porridge.

Mahonia was named by Thomas Nuttall posthumously in 1818 after Irish political refugee, Bernard M’Mahon (1775-1816) who emigrated to America where he opened a seed shop in Germantownturnpike, between Philadelphia and Nicetown , and published the ‘American Gardener’s Calendar’ in 1806 - which is still in print.

The book also contained the first known American essay on landscape design. Entitled, "Ornamental Designs and Plantings," this inspired Jefferson's own esign schemes for the Roundabout flower border and oval beds on the West Lawn at Monticello.

M'Mahon was a friend of Thomas Jefferson and it is claimed the Lewis and Clark expedition was planned in his home. Of the 178 new plants Lewis collected, Oregon grape holly M. aquifolium is one of the best known of the several species that are grown in gardens and share the name Oregon grape holly. McMahon also served as curator for the plants collected by the Lewis and Clark expedition - which included what we now grow and know as golden currant (Ribes aureum), snowberry (Symphoricarpus albus), and Osage orange (Maclura pomifera).

This specimen of Mahonia was photographed yesterday in the winter sunshine.

Seattle Times has a piece about M.repens a low ground cover species - details how to grow it here

Also reminded that in one deal involving JP Morgan, Enron sold to a company called Mahonia a long-term contract to deliver gas. Mahonia had a market capitalization of about $15. It was simply a mask for JP Morgan, which funded its operations.

In return, Enron made an agreement with another Morgan subsidiary, Stoneville Aegean, to buy gas in monthly installments at the price paid by Mahonia, plus interest. Thus, nearly $400 million flowed from JP Morgan to Enron and back to JP Morgan.

Enron got a lump sum of cash and paid it back periodically, plus interest. In ordinary parlance, this is a loan. But JPM and Enron didn't disclose it. Which is why in June 2003 JP Morgan paid the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a $135 million agreed fine.

Tony Blair is going to get some serious pocket money advising Morgan Chase " to advise on the challenges of globalization" ...let's hope that expertise helps ensures they do no more deals like that.