In praise of the colour violet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, this plant is cultivated in temperate areas around the world. In the wild, it is found from central Europe and the Mediterranean eastwards to Kazakhstan and Iran. Its flower colour is usually bluish-violet, but a form with white flowers is also common.

The genus Viola contains no less than 550-600 species, and members are found almost worldwide, with the highest diversity in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The flowers have 5 very unequal petals, the lower one larger and spurred. The fruit is a capsule, splitting along 3 seams.

Flowers of most wild violets are various shades of violet or blue, but white and yellow flowers are also common (see pages In praise of the colour blue and In praise of the colour yellow). Many species are popular garden plants, often called pansies. This name is explained on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin cucullus (‘hood’) and the suffix atus (‘having a beard’), presumably alluding to the white tuft of hairs in the mouth of the flower.

 

 

 

 

 

This plant is found in the Alps, from France eastwards to Slovenia, and also on the Balkan Peninsula, southwards to Macedonia. It grows in grassy areas at altitudes between 1,500 and 2,800 m.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘having a spur’, alluding to the long spur of this species.

 

 

 

 

 

The native area of the plant is disputed, but Mesopotamia, Iran, and Greece have been suggested as possible places of origin. Cultivation of the saffron crocus slowly spread throughout much of Eurasia, and later the plant was brought to North Africa, North America, and Oceania.

The word saffron probably derives from Arabic zafaran, which stems from Persian zarparan, meaning ‘gold strung’, alluding to either the golden stamens of the flower, or to the golden dye extracted from the styles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This plant was named in honour of Danish physician and botanist Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), who studied the Indian and Himalayan flora in the early 1800s.

 

 

 

 

 

It grows at elevations between 3,000 and 5,000 m, from the Chinese provinces Gansu and Qinghai southwards across Tibet to Pakistan, and thence eastwards to south-western China.

 

 

 

 

 

The name is of Tupi-Guarani origin, meaning ‘fragrant’. This name was adopted by the Portuguese.

 

 

 

 

 

It is assumed that the Persians acquired bulbs from nearby Turkestan about two thousand years ago. Cultivation of tulips spread slowly westwards, and it is known that they were cultivated in Constantinople as early as 1055, and in Vienna from 1554.

The name tulip is derived from Ancient Persian tauleban (‘turban’), alluding to the flower shape of most species.

 

 

 

 

 

Members of this genus are usually called scabious, although, strictly speaking, that name is reserved for a closely related genus, Scabiosa. Species of scabious were once utilized to treat scabies and other skin problems, hence the name. The word is derived from the Latin scabere (‘to scratch’).

The generic name was applied by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) in honour of two German brothers, Christoph Knaut (1638-1694) and Christian Knaut (1656-1716), both botanists and physicians. The latter published Compendium Botanicum sive Methodus Plantarum Genuina, in which he provided a classification system for flowering plants, based on petal number and arrangement.

Previously, these plants were placed in the scabious family (Dipsacaceae), but this family has been reduced to a subfamily, Dipsacoideae, within the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae). The flowers are densely clustered in a terminal head, resembling composites of the family Asteraceae.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘growing in fields’, derived from arvus (‘cultivated land’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘with leaves like Dipsacus‘ (teasel).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ash-coloured’. What it refers to is not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

This plant is distributed from northern Scandinavia and Ireland southwards to the Pyrenees, Italy, and the Balkans, and eastwards to western Russia. It has an isolated population in the Caucasus, and a scattered occurrence in Iceland, Spain, and western Siberia. It has also been introduced to North America. In northern Europe, it is very common, growing in shrubland, woods, along roads, and among rocks.

The generic name refers to the Greek woodland god Silenus, whose name is derived from the Greek sialon (‘saliva’). Silenus was often depicted covered in a sticky foam. The connection is that the female flowers of red campion secrete a frothy foam, which captures pollen from visiting insects.

The specific name dioica is the feminine gender of dioicus, from the Greek dis (‘twice’) and oikos (‘house’), thus ‘two houses’, referring to the fact that the plant has male and female flowers on separate plants. The former name Melandrium is derived from the Greek melas (’black’) and aner, genitive andros (’adult male’), referring to the dark (male) stamens, whereas rubrum is Latin, meaning ’red’.

On the Isle of Man, Britain, the plant is called blaa ny ferrishyn (‘fairy flower’) in the Gaelic, and traditionally there is a taboo against picking it. (Source: A.W. Moore 1924. A Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect. Oxford University Press)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘resembling viscum‘ – the classical Latin name of mistletoe, from which a birdlime with the same name was produced. In this connection, the name refers to the sticky stem of this plant, on which small insects are often caught – reflected in the common name. The sticky substance may deter nectar thieves such as ants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from kistos, the Greek word for rockroses.

The gum rockrose (Cistus ladanifer) is well adapted to grow in the Mediterranean area, as it is able to withstand the hot summer due to a sticky substance that covers the entire plant. In Spanish it is known as jara pringosa (‘sticky rockrose’).

It is an invasive plant, which has taken over much of former farmland and grasslands in central Spain and much of southern Portugal.

The specific name refers to the fragrant resin of this plant, from which labdanum is extracted, used in herbal medicine and perfumes.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name honours Swedish explorer and naturalist Pehr Osbeck (1723-1805) who was an apostle of the famous Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). In 1750-1752, he travelled on board the Prins Carl to Asia, where he spent four months studying flora, fauna, and culture of the Canton region of southern China. Returning home, he contributed more than 600 plant species to Linnaeus’ Species Plantarum, published in 1753. In 1757, he published an account of his work in China, called Dagbok öfwer en ostindisk Resa åren 1750, 1751, 1752. Med anmärkningar uti naturkunnigheten, främmande folkslags språk, seder, hushållning, m.m. (‘Diary of a Journey to the East Indies 1750, 1751, 1752. With notes about lore on nature, languages of foreign peoples, habits, household etc.’).

Osbeckia lanata is endemic to highlands of Sri Lanka. It may be identified by its small and crowded, ovate or rounded leaves with 3 deeply indented nerves. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘woolly’, referring to the underside of the leaves, which is covered in brown hairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young pods and seeds are edible and were formerly consumed by various North American indigenous peoples. In his book Cape Cod (1865), American author Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) quotes that “in 1555, during a time of great scarcity, the people about Orford in Sussex, England, were preserved by eating the seeds of this plant, which grew there in great abundance on the sea-coast.”

However, the seeds contain a toxic amino-acid, which can cause lathyrism (muscle wasting), if consumed in large quantities. The leaves are used in Chinese traditional medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite its name, the New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) is widely distributed, found in south-eastern Canada and the major part of the United States, except the south-western states. It is a robust plant, which may grow to 1.2 m tall. The flowerheads have numerous ray florets, sometimes up to 100, which are normally deep purple, occasionally pink or white. The likewise numerous disc florets are yellow or orange, turning brownish with age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin uligo (‘dampness’), referring to the fact that the prime habitat of this species is swampy areas.

 

 

 

 

 

My own ‘colourful’ adventures during Holi are related on the page Travel episodes – India 1991: Attending Hindu festivals in Rajasthan.

 

 

 

 

 

The tuberous vervain (Verbena rigida), also called slender vervain, is native to South America, from Bolivia and south-eastern Brazil southwards to northern Argentina. Elsewhere, it is a popular garden plant, which has become naturalized in numerous warmer areas around the world. The popular name alludes to its undergrond tuber.

 

 

 

 

 

The whole plant contains the alkaloid colchicine, with the highest concentrations in the leaves, which deters herbivores from eating them.

It is widespread in the Iberian Peninsula, northwards to the Pyrenees, where it may be found up to an elevation of about 2,600 m. It is abundant in pasture lands, flourishing along roads and trails, often in dry and stony places. The highest density is found in highly disturbed areas with large populations of a species of vole, Microtus duodecimcostatus. Research suggests a symbiotic relationship between the two: the voles feed on the much less toxic rhizomes, which activates asexual reproduction processes. This mechanism is not observed in undisturbed pastures. (Source: D. Gómez et al. 2003. Seasonal and spatial variations of alkaloids in Merendera montana in relation to chemical defense and phenology. J. Chemical Ecol. 29 (5): 1117-1126)

 

 

 

 

 

The beach morning-glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) is a very common plant on sandy beaches in all tropical and some subtropical areas of the world, easily spreading by its seeds, which are able to float for a long time, unaffected by salt water.

The specific name is derived from the Latin pes (‘foot’) and the Greek capra (‘goat’), referring to the shape of its leaves, which, to Carl Linnaeus, apparently resembled the footprint of a goat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stipules (leaf-like appendices at the base of leaves) are often distinct on these plants. After flowering, the style forms a long, straight or up-curved beak, which separates into 5 elastic spring-like coils, each containing a single seed that is expelled, usually when the style is touched.

The generic name is derived from the Greek geranos (‘crane’), alluding to the fruit, whose shape resembles a crane’s bill.

 

The specific name means ‘growing in woods’, derived from the Latin silva (‘forest’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stem, leaves, and flower stalks are covered with sticky hairs, and research has shown that the plant is able to absorb protein from insects that get stuck in these hairs.

Formerly, members of the Niitsitapi peoples (‘Blackfeet’) used an infusion from this plant to treat diarrhoea and other gastric problems, and also urinary trouble. The root was dried and powdered and then used to stop external bleeding. An infusion of the leaves was used to treat colds and sore throat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Greek melampyron, of melas (‘black’) and pyros (‘wheat’), referring to the black seeds, which somewhat resemble wheat grains. An ancient belief had it that the seeds, when mixed with wheat and ground into flour, tended to make the bread black. In the Middle Ages, it was also believed that the seeds were capable of being converted into wheat, supposedly because of the sudden appearance of these plants among wheat, planted on recently cleared land. Cows and sheep readily eat these plants, hence the name cow-wheat. (Source: M. Grieve, 1931. A Modern Herbal. Jonathan Cape, here from botanical.com)

In his Cruydeboeck (herb book), Flemish physician and botanist Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585) tells us that “the seeds of this herb taken in meate or drinke troubleth the braynes, causing headache and drunkennesse.”

Wood cow-wheat (M. nemorosum) mainly grows in eastern Europe, found from Denmark, Germany, and Italy eastwards to north-western Russia.

Popular names include the Swedish natt-och-dag (‘night-and-day’) and the Russian Ivan-da-Marya (‘Ivan-and-Maria’), both names referring to its striking inflorescences, with yellow flowers and bright purplish-violet bracts.

 

 

 

 

 

Botanically, the pineapple is an herb, which may grow to 1.5 m tall, sometimes taller. It has a short, stocky stem with tough, waxy, spiny leaves, growing to 1 m long. It produces up to 200 bluish-violet flowers, in cultivation sometimes more. In the wild state, it is pollinated primarily by hummingbirds, sometimes at night by bats. The individual fruits, which are berries, join together to create a multiple fruit, the ‘pineapple’.

The English name stems from 1568, from the book Les singularitez de la France antarctique (1557), written by French priest, explorer, and writer André Thevet (1516-1590), relating his experiences in France Antarctique, a French settlement near present-day Rio de Janeiro. In English, this book is titled The New Found World, or Antarctike. Thevet refers to a fruit, cultivated and eaten by the Tupinambá people, living in this area. He describes the fruit as nanas, a Tupi word meaning ‘excellent fruit’, and says that it was made in the manner of a ‘pine apple’ (pine cone). (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple)

The Tupi word was adopted by Scottish botanist Philip Miller (1691-1771) as the plant’s generic name in the form Ananas, whereas the specific name is Latin, derived from coma, which literally means ‘hair’, but is also used as a term for leaves, thus ‘with many leaves’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek stachys (‘spike’) and tarphys (‘thick’), referring to the inflorescence of many of the species in the genus.

Purple porterweed (Stachytarpheta frantzii), which grows to about 1.2 m tall, is native from Mexico eastwards to Panama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is of unknown origin, possibly derived from the Latin sol (’sun’) referring to the fact that plants of this genus prefer to grow in sunny places. The popular name is a corruption of an ancient Germanic name of these plants, Nachtschatten, of unknown meaning. As Schatten also means ‘shadow’ in German, the name nightshade was introduced, but apparently this is a misnomer.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘without tubers’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It grows on calcareous soils in open forests, shrubberies, dry grasslands, and sometimes along roads and trails. It is native to northern temperate areas of Eurasia, from almost all of Europe eastwards to the Pacific, southwards to Spain, Turkey, Iran, the Himalaya, northern China, and Japan. It has also become naturalized in North America.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘gathered in a group’, referring to the dense inflorescence. An old folk name is Dane’s blood, alluding to the fancy belief that this plant sprouted in places, where Danes had been slain in battle.

Other bellflower species are presented on the pages Plants: Flora of the Alps and the Pyrenees, Plants: Himalayan flora 1, and In praise of the colour blue.

 

 

 

 

Astragalus onobrychis is usually a prostrate plant, forming dense growths to 30 cm tall, occasionally to 60 cm. It is native from the western Alps eastwards to western Siberia and the Altai Mountains, southwards to the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It was originally a steppe plant, which has adapted to grassy areas in mountains.

The specific name alludes to the similarity of the flowers to those of the genus Onobrychis.

 

 

 

 

 

The common names allude to the leaves being almost all basal.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Greek hormao (‘to hasten’), referring to the uasge of this herb as an aphrodisiac. The common name refers to the gaping corolla.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Latin pulsare (’to beat’), referring to the flowers, which move back and forth in the wind. The word pasque is from the Latin pascha, a corruption of the Ancient Greek páskh, which was ultimately from the Hebrew pésakh (‘Passover’). This one-day feast begins on the 14th day of the first month, followed by the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. In Christianity, pasque is an old expression for Easter. The name pasque flower refers to the early flowering of several species, often coinciding with Easter.

The role of these plants in traditional medicine and folklore is described on the page Plants: Anemones and pasque flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species is distributed from the western Alps eastwards to the Carpathians and mountains on the Balkan Peninsula, growing on dry calcareous soils, from the lower valleys up to altitudes of about 2,000 m.

 

 

 

 

 

It comes in two varieties, var. patens of Europe and western Siberia, and var. multifida of eastern Siberia and North America. The former is highly threatened in Finland due to former over-collecting, and the latter is declining in America due to increased cultivation of prairies.