Tea Leaves Are Safer in The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse

Summary: Tea leaves are safer in The Mystery of the Acid Soil short story by Kate Mosse for Marple: Twelve New Mysteries copyrighted by Agatha Christie Limited.

"God talks to human beings through many vectors: through each other, through organized religion, through the great books of those religions, through wise people, through art and music and literature and poetry, but nowhere with such detail and grace and color and joy as through creation. When we destroy a species, when we destroy a special place, we're diminishing our capacity to sense the divine, understand who God is and what our own potential is." Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., April 19, 2023, Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts.

“And there’s many people out there who want us to move to the next planet already and I’m like, hang on, let’s not give up on this planet yet," William, Prince of Wales, July 31, 2023, Sorted Food food truck, London, England, United Kingdom.

Jane Marple appreciates hot tea with her acquaintance, Emmeline Strickert. Tea trees such as the applauded Camellia sinensis are amenable to English ambiances such as those in the Chichester area that assembles the two acquaintances for The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse: illustration of "Camellia Thea Lk.," in Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen Atlas (Band II [1898], Tafeln 136), based upon original in Berlin by German botanical illustrator Carl Friedrich Schmidt (1811-1890), with (center) naturally-sized flowering branch, (lower left) cross-section of flower and (lower right) fruits with seeds: Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr

Tea leaves are safer than razor blades for Jane Marple in The Mystery of the Acid Soil short story by Kate Mosse for Marple: Twelve New Mysteries copyrighted by Agatha Christie Limited.

Agatha Christie Limited brings us Sep. 13, 2022, to its 14-book Marple Collection, the book Marple: Twelve New Mysteries, beneath the HarperCollins Publishers’ William Morrow imprint. The Kate Mosse contribution claims the 11th, next-last chapter, which she constructs as 10 configurations 299-300, 301-306, 306-313, 313-317, 317-320, 320-321, 321-323, 323-325, 326-327 and 327-333. The first division, in its next-last sentence, delivers us a jasmine hedge that distracts Jane Marple with its possible daring to “run riot” (Mosse: page 300).

The second subchapter entertains us with Jane Marple employing her trees with their cherry and their plum-like damson fruits to enjoy cherry brandy and damson gin.

The third subchapter furnishes us with ornamentally horticultural features of trailing roses figuring around a “flint-faced” (Mosse:306) door and of lavender flourishing along the cottage path.

That same subchapter 3 greets us with the black-green, waxy foliage of such acid soil-growable, back yard-growing plants as azaleas, rhododendrons and swamp leatherflowers (Clematis crispa). It has in that same back yard a cane table and two wicker chairs, the former and the latter of which herald from the rattan vine. It invokes edible grains in barley, corn, rye or wheat ingredients in its whisky imbibed by Dr. J. Barden and white oak in that whisky’s aging.

Subchapter 4 of The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse joins marmalade, tea leaves and toast from orange and tea trees and corn-/rye-/wheat-floured bread.

The fourth subchapter keepsakes an unknown species of ash tree in Jane Marple’s ash walking stick even as it knows no garden moss and thatch species.

The aforementioned Salthill Road garden lodges lily of the valley; mauve-blooming phacelia, which leads to improved soil health and quality; ornamental clovers; and butterfly-loving wild marjoram. It manifests blue-flowering Jacob’s ladder; blue moss grass; lavender maintained along its paths; and honeysuckle even as subchapter 4 and subchapter 10 mention its lime pits. Alkaline soil-needy plants such as those niched in the Cooper garden necessitate alkali nutrients in the burned or the watered chalk or limestone from lime pits.

The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse observes tea leaves safer than razor blades for acid, below-7, and lime pits for alkaline above-7, pH.

Subchapters 3 and 4 respectively present wicker chairs and house thatching as willow-, rattan-, reed- or bamboo-provenanced and as straw-, water reed-, sedge-, rush- or palm-provenanced.

Subchapter 7 quarters maize-, malted barley-, oat, rice- or wheat-provenanced beer; pine-needle-provenanced tobacco even as subchapters 3 and 10 queue barley-, corn-, rye- or wheat-provenanced whisky. Unrecognized plant parts such as non-woody and woody leaves, woody-plant needles and bush, shrub, tree and vine bark realize high-temperature fires that render alkaline soil-pH ranges. Subchapter 7 shelters semi-acid, semi-alkaline soil-seeking lilacs and, similarizing subchapter 3, acid soil-seeking rhododendrons even as subchapter 10, similarizing subchapter 1, showcases acid soil-seeking jasmine hedge.

The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse travels through one alkaline soil-trending garden and two acid soil-trending gardens, one safer through tetanus-proof tea leaves.

Jane Marple and Emmeline Strickert perhaps assign to orange trees (Citrus sinensis) an assuaging association for assuring them their tea-time marmalade in The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse; "Oranger de Majorque, Arancio di Majorca," illustrated by Pierre-Antoine Poiteau (March 23, 1766-Feb. 27, 1854), French botanist, gardener and botanical artist, in Histoire et culture des orangers (nouvelle édition, MDCCCLXXII [1872], Tab. 14; 19. Planche XIV, pages 30-31), co-authored with Niçois naturalist Giuseppe Antonio Risso (April 8, 1777-Aug. 25, 1845): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Jane Marple appreciates hot tea with her acquaintance, Emmeline Strickert. Tea trees such as the applauded Camellia sinensis are amenable to English ambiances such as those in the Chichester area that assembles the two acquaintances for The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse: illustration of "Camellia Thea Lk.," in Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen Atlas (Band II [1898], Tafeln 136), based upon original in Berlin by German botanical illustrator Carl Friedrich Schmidt (1811-1890), with (center) naturally-sized flowering branch, (lower left) cross-section of flower and (lower right) fruits with seeds (Tafelbeschreibung: A blühender Zweig, natürl. Grösse; 1 Blüthe im Längsschnitt, vergrössert; 2 Staubgefäss, desgl.; 3 Fruchtknoten im Querschnitt, desgl.; 4 Stempel mit Kelch, desgl.; 5 u. 6 reife Frucht von verschiedenen Seiten, mit Samen, natürl. Grösse; 7 Same mit Bindrücken der verkümmerten Samenknospen, desgl.; 8 derselbe zerschnitten, desgl.; 9 Embryo, desgl. Nach einter Originalzeichnung des Herrn Professor Schmidt in Berlin): Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/61021753@N02/8231734373/; Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/303208; Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/mobot31753002839121/page/136/mode/1up; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santalum_album_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-128.jpg

Jane Marple and Emmeline Strickert perhaps assign to orange trees (Citrus sinensis) an assuaging association for assuring them their tea-time marmalade in The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse; "Oranger de Majorque, Arancio di Majorca," illustrated by Pierre-Antoine Poiteau (March 23, 1766-Feb. 27, 1854), French botanist, gardener and botanical artist, in Histoire et culture des orangers (nouvelle édition, MDCCCLXXII [1872], Tab. 14; 19. Planche XIV, pages 30-31), co-authored with Niçois naturalist Giuseppe Antonio Risso (April 8, 1777-Aug. 25, 1845): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Histoire_et_culture_des_orangers_A._Risso_et_A._Poiteau._--_Paris_Henri_Plon,_Editeur,_1872.jpg; Public Domain, Google-digitized, via HathiTrust @ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.086806206&seq=283; via Google Read free of charge @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Histoire_et_culture_des_orangers/gwc0AQAAMAAJ

For further information:

Brickell, Christopher; and Trevor Cole. (Editors-in-Chief). 2002. "Clematis Old man's beard, Travelers' joy." Pages 521-524. The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers. New York NY: DK Publishing, Inc.

Brickell, Christopher; and Trevor Cole. (Editors-in-Chief). 2002. "Phacelia." Page 628. The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers. New York NY: DK Publishing, Inc.

"Clematis crispa." Page 387. In: Hogan, Sean (Chief Consultant). 2003. Flora A Gardener's Encyclopedia. Volume I A-K. Portland Or: Timber Press, Inc.

Cranshaw, Whitney. 2004. "Clematis Chewing insects: margined blister beetle, twobanded Japanese weevil. Sucking insects: garden fleahopper, green peach aphid." Page 588. In: Appendix of Host Plant Genera and Associated Insects and Mites." Pages 577-627. Garden Insects of North America: The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs. Princeton NJ; and Woodstock Oxfordshire UK: Princeton University Press.

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 March 2024. "Jane Marple Ambles About The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/03/jane-marple-ambles-about-mystery-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 March 2024. "The Mystery of the Acid Soil Avails Us of Jane Marple by Kate Mosse." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-mystery-of-acid-soil-avails-us-of.html

Mosse, Kate. 2022. "The Mystery of the Acid Soil." Pages 299-333. In: Agatha Christie. Marple: Twelve Mysteries. New York NY: William Morrow Imprint, HarperCollins Publishers.

"Phacelia." Pages 1016-1018. In: Hogan, Sean (Chief Consultant). 2003. Flora A Gardener's Encyclopedia. Volume I A-K. Portland Or: Timber Press, Inc.

Sheng, Lu; Kongshu Ji; and Liangliang Yu. 24 September 2014. "Karyotype analysis on 11 species of the genus Clematis." Brazilian Journal of Botany 37(2). Springer. Received 11 March 2014. Accepted 1 September 2014. Published online 24 September 2014. Copyrighted 2014 Botanical Society of Sao Paulo. DOI 10.1007/s40415-014-0099-5
Available @ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ji-Kongshu/publication/280713109_Karyotype_analysis_on_11_species_of_the_genus_Clematis/links/5d9df87e299bf13f40d0c881/Karyotype-analysis-on-11-species-of-the-genus-Clematis.pdf

Sugiura, T. 1940. "Studies on the Chromosome Numbers in Higher Plants. IV." Cytologia 10: 324-333.
Available @ https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/cytologia1929/10/3/10_3_324/_pdf/-char/ja

Tenenbaum, Frances. (Ed.) "Clematis." Pages 98-100. In: Encyclopedia of Garden Plqnts. Taylor's Guides to Gardening. Boston MA; New York NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Tenenbaum, Frances. (Ed.) "Phacelia." Page 297. In: Encyclopedia of Garden Plqnts. Taylor's Guides to Gardening. Boston MA; New York NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.