The folklore of flowers proves an expansive subject, both terrifying and interesting in equal measure. Much like the world of trees and plants at the best of times. They follow their own cycles, often independent of human intervention. They’ll often grow in seemingly inhospitable environments. They’re living creatures, but they’re rooted to the spot. They are hardy or delicate, wild or cultivated.
They can also be incredibly dangerous.
Poisonous plants are a particular interest of mine and I like to call it toxic botany. One of my favourite places to visit is the Poison Garden at the Alnwick Garden where some of the plants are even kept under lock and key. Others, like henbane, produce such a noxious smell that you don’t even want to go near them.
At the Poison Garden, knowledgeable guides lead small bands of visitors among the beds. They point out the different varieties and relate tales associated with the folklore of flowers. Some of them are common plants you’d find in your garden, others are more difficult to cultivate.
But here are three of my favourite specimens, as we delve into the folklore of flowers!
Belladonna AKA Deadly Nightshade
Atropa belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade, is extremely poisonous! It comes from the Solanaceae family…along with peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and potatoes!
Its name, belladonna, comes from the Italian, ‘beautiful ladies’. In bygone days, Venetian women believed that dilated pupils made them more attractive.
It’s not as mad as it sounds. The pupils naturally dilate when the person is aroused, so it would serve to make the ladies look more interested than they perhaps were. Quite handy if you’re after a husband.
Its name, Atropa, comes from Atropos, the third of the Greek Fates. It was her job to cut the thread of life after it had been measured out by her two sisters. It was also sacred to Bellona, a Roman war goddess. Belladonna is very heavily associated with death.
Along with opium poppy and other plants, belladonna was believed to make up the ‘flying ointment’ used by witches. Commentators thought the ointment helped the witches to fly to their gatherings, but it’s more likely that a combination of the plants caused hallucinations.
Foxglove
The foxglove is also known as dead man’s bells, fairy thimbles, and witches’ gloves. They are among the prettiest of the poisonous plants. The digitalis extracted from foxgloves is used in heart medicines. But do not consume any part of the plant yourself.
The plant is toxic, but planting it in the garden may grant your house protection. It is also said to attract fairies and according to legend, the white spots inside each bell are marks left by fairies. But don’t pick the foxglove and bring it inside, as it’ll annoy the fairies.
Leave it outside where it’ll be a favourite spot for bees!
In some sources I read, the name ‘fox glove’ was just a misspelling of ‘folk’s glove’. In others, the name came from the fact that fairies apparently taught foxes to ring the bells, warning other foxes of hunters in the area. Another tale claimed that the fairies gave the flowers to the foxes to wear over their paws so the hens in the hen house wouldn’t hear them coming!
Its legends extend beyond fairies. According to Roman mythology, Juno grew tired of Jupiter conceiving children with other women – but not her. The goddess Flora touched a foxglove to her belly and breasts, and Juno conceived the god, Mars.
All this from a plant that now gives us digitalis for heart medicine!
Angel’s Trumpet
Angel’s trumpet, or Brugmansia suaveolens to give it the proper name, is another member of the Solanaceae family. It’s toxic, but its unpleasant taste makes accidental poisoning rare. Some people make tea from the seeds. This dodgy practice is what usually causes poisonings. It contains a lot of scopolamine, which gives it psychoactive properties.
But this post is about the folklore of flowers! At one time Brugmansia was allegedly a favoured murder weapon. Professional assassins thought it caused a lack of movement, or induced sleep, in victims. Whether this ever worked isn’t clear since most reports say the plant’s chemicals cause agitation.
Some people even believe that Brugmansia is an ingredient in the powder used to make zombies!
In more magical terms, Brugmansia can be used to encourage communication with the dead. It’s a little more dodgy than using a Ouija board.
They are related to deadly nightshade and black henbane. That’s one fairly poisonous family tree! They are beautiful though, and there’s something very magical about them. I often wonder if the trumpets sound in the dead of night.
The study of the folklore of flowers reveals some interesting and unusual stories.
It’s debatable how true any of them are but a lot of the stories around these plants are telling. Embedded in many of them are nuggets of truth around the toxicity of the plants.
And what better way to warn someone away from something dangerous! Humans respond to stories and fear, and some of the stories about plants are tremendous! I highly recommend Wicked Plants: The A-Z of Plants That Kill, Maim, Intoxicate and Otherwise Offend by Amy Stewart if you want to know more about the folklore of flowers.
Have you got any of these in your garden? Let me know in the comments!
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Wicked post. Really enjoyed this. I did know Belladonna (or however you spell it) was poisonous but I didn’t know about the others. I used to have fox gloves in our garden, I had no idea they were poisonous. I’d love to know what the consequences are of ingesting these plants. You also just gave me a wicked cool idea for some research I need to do 😀 <3. WE might have to try and visit those gardens when we drive up to scotland this summer.
I can recommend some good books if you want!
Id always thought nightshade was poisonous yes..i worked at the hospital at lion country and had to hunt 300 acres of Florida turrain. I have magical land. I did however confuse belladonna with Angel trumpets. The shape of the flower before it buds i guess and being in the same family..many of mine are hybridized. I have even a cosmo that cross bred with a marigolds! It make the world’s biggedt marigolds!! But the body of a taller cosmo. My angel trumpets grow wild. My grandfather was from a reservation . Hes Blackfoot. Like belladonna..he did use the angel trumpets. I would never recreate what he had done through generations. But like belladonna the tea was in thr dose he was able to make it..non psycho tropic and beneficial to the gi trouble i had all my life. It relieved the pain. But i never learned how. There is alot of nightshade. Too much for my animals unfortunately. Foxglove takes here well too as do roses. Roses grow as tall as my home ( in Florida anything tall is an oddity) my angel trumpets are as tall as my home and beautifully cover one full side of my acreage. Foxglove is choosier. I try to transplant the ones in the pasture but cant always miss with the tractor😶 ..it was already here when i bought this place. I love it. My angel trumpets havs also been taken samples from for medical use in the medical marijuana industry hence the chemists do feel there are healing properties that can be EXTRACTED with an ethanol process and used in micro amounts. But ill be sure to send over the nightshade as well. Our chemists look for what heals in those poisons. After all belladonna is in almost every chrohns patients medical cabinet mixed with atropine or opiate! Can you imagine how much better a mixture with non psychotropic delta 8 thc that is geared with our receptors for gi issues rather than opiates would be? Hoping all gi patients one day have SAFE acces to these one made into medicine!!!
The head of the California farms said my specimens were amazing ( Tony the head of Blue River Extracts) i should send photos. He said especially the hybrids were beautiful. He thought i did it myself and did some genetic work. He was so surprised i dont even tend them he took photos to send to his farms and one in Miami.
Have you got any photos online?
Absolutely! Have you come across the Bane Folk website before?
Hi Icy
This is such a fascinating topic!
Sacha Black my friend had Fox Glove in her garden but uprooted it when her kid started crawling.
What books would you recommend, Icy?
My favourites are Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, Discovering the Folklore of Plants, Plant Lore and Legend: The Wisdom and Wonder of Plants and Flowers Revealed and Fifty Plants That Changed the Course of History!
I’ve got all three actually. And no, sadly Brugmansia doesn’t sound in the middle of the night, But it is a night scented plant, and puts off its scent in the evening, making it perfect for a moon garden. When the whole tree is in bloom you can smell it from some distance even, and it’s very intoxicating.
I love night-scented flowers! I’ll have to put some in the garden.
I love in New Orleans,La.USA and have both Angels Trumpet and Devils Trumpet in my yard. I love to read about the origins and uses of “weed plants” . I have some wonderful photos of them in all their dark glory of you’d like to see. I didn’t know that Devils Trumpet was a class B drug! Learn something new everyday!
Cheers,
Becky in NOLa
I’d love to see! 😀