An 80-year-old botanist’s lifelong pursuit of discovery | Houston's Whitebeam
- Andy McIlvain
- Apr 10
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 11
Video from Aeon Video
An 80-year-old botanist’s lifelong pursuit of discovery | Houston's Whitebeam
"Libby Houston, an 80-year-old botanist and poet, reflects on her life and work in this contemplative portrait of discovery and loss. Read more about this film here: https://psyche.co/videos/a-poet-botan.
Libby Houston is an accomplished poet and botanist, having published a number of collections of poetry and discovered several species of whitebeam trees. This includes a rare tree with distinctive silvered leaves that now bears her name – Houston’s whitebeam. And, as this short documentary shows, she’s also a climber. It’s a skill that, at 80, she still uses to explore the steep limestone walls of the Avon Gorge in Bristol, England, allowing her access to otherwise unreachable cliff faces.
In their contemplative portrait, the UK-based directors Alex Darby and Jake Morris capture Houston reflecting on her life, including the death of her first husband, as well as the interplay between her poetic and scientific work. This includes her quest to document every whitebeam in the Avon Gorge, showing that even landscapes studied for centuries can still yield surprises. Through their subject, Darby and Morris craft a thoughtful, often beautiful ode to the power of patient, careful observation." from the video introduction
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