Travesía del Nardo

The tuberose gives its name to this short travesía in Almenara, which connects with the street of the same name. The flower is a spike of white bells that open at dusk and release a dense, almost narcotic scent. In perfumery it has always been costly: in the late nineteenth century it was grown in Grasse to extract its essence. The name reached the street map amid a botanical order. When Madrid absorbed Chamartín de la Rosa, to which this area belonged, it found duplicated streets and had to rename them. In Almenara they drew on the garden: Magnolia, Miosotis, Margaritas, Cantueso, Azahara. The Travesía del Nardo joined that family. Why the tuberose fell to it, and not another flower on the list, has not been preserved. The criterion was thematic: to fill the map with plant names that would not clash with those downtown.