The fragrant WALLFLOWER (Gilliflower), originally found in Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Himalayas, was naturalized in Britain and became the parent of a wide selection of garden varieties with multi-colored flowers. Poet Robert Herrick ascribed the name Wallflower to the tragic story of a maiden who fell off a wall and died while attempting to escape from prison to marry her lover. He wrote:
Up she got upon a wall, attempting down to slide with all,
But the silken twist untied, so she fell and bruised and died.
Love, in pity of the dead, and her luckless speed
Turned her to this plant we call now The Flower of the Wall.
In Elizabethan days, the wallflower was known to different botanists and horticulturists as Gilliflower and by several other names. At one time it was called July-flower. Its spicy odor of cloves resembles that of the carnation. The flowers were used as a substitute for the costly cloves of India to flavor wines and liquors. Poets Chaucer and Spenser refer to them by the name of Sops in Wine, as they may be steeped in liquor. Gerard states that a conserve made of the flowers with sugar is exceedingly tasty and the cordial wonderfully comforts the heart being eaten now and then.
The WESTERN WALLFLOWER is so named because it grows in the western and central portions of the United States. The name wallflower is also believed to have been derived from its habit of growing against walls.. This is why a person, who leans against the wall waiting to be included in an activity is called a wallflower.
LINARIA, (honesty) is also known as Parson’s Penny, in accordance with the folk belief where honesty is grown the people will be honest. Found in the Mediterranean area, it was once credited with the supernatural power to cast the shoes of horses walking on it. It is believed to be effective in curing insanity. Its roots are said to be edible.
Another unusual species of this Cruciferae species is the ROSE OF JERICHO, which was brought back to Western Europe by the Crusaders as a symbol of the Resurrection. It is found growing wild from Morocco to South Persia, a most unusual plant, about 6 inches tall, with silvery leaves and white flowers. As the seed ripens during the dry season, the leaves fall off and the branches curve in to make a round lattice-type ball. At this stage it is blown out of the ground and across the land till it reaches a moist spot or the rainy season begins and it blooms again. Regarded with reverence in Israel, it is alluded to in Ecclesiastes: ...I was as a rose-plant in Jericho. It is supposed to have first blossomed at the Saviour’s birth, closed at His crucifixion and bloomed again at Easter. Hence the name Resurrection Plant.
Known in Mexico as DORADILLA, the Rose of Jericho is considered a miraculous plant that has been known since antiquity when its Nahuatl name was Texochitl yamanqui, also known as Flor de Piedra or Doradilla. In the Yucatan it is called Muchkok. A mystical everlasting desert plant, it grows and reproduces as any other plant, until the soil no longer supports it. Then it retracts its roots from the soil, folds up in a ball, and lets the desert winds carry it to a place where it can take root and grow again.
The Mexican DORADILLA was not merely an attractive phenomena of nature, but it was believed a tea made from the plant was beneficial for kidney function, enhancing the urinary system, and serving as an effective douche and stress reducer. If you are ever fortunate to find a Doradilla Rose blowing across your path in a desert area, place it in water and it will recover its natural green color and unfold its lovely living organisms. It is said to bring peace, power, and riches to your home and chase away evil and bad luck. Let’s go DORADILLA hunting!
Another plant of the Cruciferae Family is the NORTH AMERICAN PEPPER ROOT. It has long, crisp, succulent roots that taste like watercress. The flowers are white with pinkish borders. The ISATIS TINTORIA, a biennial, is noted as the source of Woad, an indelible juice with which the early inhabitants of Britain stained their bodies. The old Celtic name for paint was Brith meaning a stained man. The juice has been used as substitute for Indigo. The leaves make the richest dye when gathered from the flowering stems. They are partially dried and left in a dry, airy place to ferment. Eventually they formed cakes and fermented again. The odor was so obnoxious that it was an offence to dry Woad in the vicinity of the Royal Palaces.
