The Last Great Apostle of Rugged Individualism

Down by the confluence of the Rivers Kelvin and Clyde (a city is privileged enough to have one river) by the new outlandish Transport Museum (it's far more interesting outside and around it), I come across a solitary giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) standing in the twilight with its branches splayed as if it were Shiva. The whole scene reminds me of the wonderful 1936 film The Petrified Forest with Humphrey Bogart playing a Dillinger-like gangster called Duke and Leslie Howard playing a burnt-out English intellectual who refers to Duke whom he secretly admires as the 'last great apostle of rugged individualism'.

It's a moment of illumination not just for the crepuscular rays that fall upon this giant hogweed's tough but gentle body. This whole area, Pointhouse Quay, and further west with the Grand Harbour Development, has been under redevelopment for the best part of the past decade with obscene amounts of money being spent on buildings whose purpose many are still questioning. In amongst all the destruction, the great granary has fallen as too have many innocent spaces whose purpose (if such a thing can be said) was simply to 'wild out'.

This giant hogweed represents Duke in amidst a petrified forest - the last great apostle of rugged individualism.The hogweed (aka, wild rhubarb, giant cow parsely) along with japanese knotweed is public enemy no.1. Because of its phototoxicity and invasive nature, it is often actively removed in spite of what it brings in terms of beauty. In the UK, the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to plant or cause giant hogweed to grow in the wild. No doubt, like Duke, this one's days are numbered, as the posse close in.

The cranes of Fairfields Shipyard in Govan can be seen off to the south-west, but they're not a patch on this great hogweed. I like to think of them as 'buddhas' which unlike Duke (who, let's face it, hadn't really attained buddhahood) don't put up a fight when the developers come around.

Which only adds to their mystery and power -