SACRED PLANTS AND FRUIT

Evening Star, Issue 23451, 16 December 1939, Page 6

SACRED PLANTS AND FRUIT

We are indebted to the Benedictines, who were the first great gardeners of Europe for raising a great many of the still well-loved flowers that we have around us and will always find places for, notwithstanding that many of the more modern rivals are perhaps gayer in, colour but lack the perfume of the old favourites, and also associations with the old convents, etc. The old walls were scented with the gillyflower, or better known as the wallflower, also the scarlet anemone that blooms at Eastertide and known in Palestine as the blood drops of Christ. The almond tree with its delightful blossoms is sometimes called one of the symbols of the Virgin, and there are the marigolds which are still with us. These are only a few which were brought long ago from Syria by the pilgrim monks and distributed all over the Continent of Europe. In their cloister gardens the monks would meditate on the beautiful form® of flowers. and plants, which often would display all kinds of emblems in their mysterious tracings. Many displayed the true figure of the Cross. It may still be seen in the centre of the red poppy. We are told also that at Rome, in a convent, there is a zucca which carries fruit, and when it is cut through there is a green cross inlaid on the white pulp, and at its angles there are five seeds representing the five wounds. Another fruit which also shows the signs of the crucifixion is the banana of the Canary Islands, and is rarely cut with a knife for that reason.

The passion flower (Passaflora),'of which a description was given in the year 1609 by Bosio, has the five wounds. It was declared that the Creator had chosen to represent the principal emblems of His Son’s Passion, so that in due season it might assist, when the marvels should be explained to them, in the conversion of the heathen people in whose country it grew. The upper petals are tawny in Peru, but in Spain they are white-tinged rose colours. The fringe-like filaments above are blood red, as though referring to the scourge with which our Lord was beaten. In the midst of the flower rises the column to which he was bound, and above are the nails, both of a clear green; and above again is the crown of thorns surrounded by a veil of threads, 72 in number, the traditional number of, the thorns on our Lord’s crown, coloured like a peacock’s feather. In fhe centre of the flower and under the column are five spots of blood colour, .clearly representing the five chief wounds which Christ received on the cross. The plant is rich in leaves, which also in shape resemble the iron of a pike or lancehead, and 1 , refer to that with which our Lord’s side was pierced. At nightfall the flower closes entirely, and even in the day 1 only half-urifolds itself, keeping always the form of a veil.. The passions flower still retains its original name and significance. It is the one great contribution of the Western Hemisphere and the symbolic flower of Christendom. The plant is common in the gardens of the south of England, and is often found growing over the cottage doorways. . At the present time in Dunedin one of the most lovely of the sacred-named plants is flowering. That is Hoy a Carnosa, or commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem. This plant is a member of the Epiphyllum family, and is very hardy and makes a delightful climber. Its flowers are borne in clusters. The colours are wonderful, and the texture of the petals is like an artificial flower, remaining fresh for many weeks. F.S.P.