Autumn Snow at the National Botanic Gardens

On the morning of 28th November the first snow covered every twig of the botanic gardens.

Montezuma's Pine, a native of Mexico, was one such (right).

Moctezuma II was the last king of the Aztec empire (below), and died in 1520 after the conquering expedition of a spanish army led by Hernán Cortés. This is one of the most spectacular and tragic examples of the clash of civilisations - Cortés had an army of just a few hundred soldiers, but defeated the vast strength of the Aztec army, then at the peak of its power, who were in awe of people they mistakenly regarded as superior and god-like.