The Colorado statesman., 1905-04-22
/ f F. X A N % T HE p L A N T
Legends of Holy n


Our minds are used to making def
mite pictures, and so as we recall
each holiday of the year, we clothe
1t in its own material dress. The
Fourth of July we drape in flags and
fireworks; Christmas we enwreathe
in holly and mistletoe; Valentines
Day we deck with hearts ard darts;
and Easter we embower in flowers
Nature herself is responsible for our
picture of Easter. for at the approach
of this season, the bare fields and
naked trees exert themselves to send
forth some glow of welcome. The
landscape is changed Instead of
deathlike inactivity, there is the stir
of life and aspiration. Man himself
feels fresh impulse, and as his sym.
pathies broaden out to embrace the
world, he takes new notice of the
plants and blossoms whose awaken
ing beauty is Transforming the city
park or woodsy glen.
When one comes to observe the
flowers, he learns their names. II he
have tendency to inquire the why's
and wherefores, he soon realizes that
Easter itself has had a great influence
in the naming of plants. The Resur-
rection, of which Easter is the COM
memoration, is the foundation of
Christianity, and before this new re-
hgion swept over Europe, the plants
were often named for pagan deities
We have to-day a reminiscence of
this in Venus's Fly Trap and Jupiter's
Beard.
ri kior
nation, it abolished all pagan names
and substituted in their place the IT,
ties connected with the new faith.
As men and cities had to be rechris-
tened. so had the plant world also.
The Savior Himself had few plants
named for Him, probably from a feel
ing of reverence. We have, however,
Christs Thorn, which is supposed TO
have supplied the material for His
crown. His mother was much hon
ored. All blossoms with Virgin" pre-
fixed. as Virgins Bower were named
for her; and those, too, that have
Maiden" as Maiden's Hair, and any
form of Mary" as Marigold. Each
flower that reaches us to-day with
Lady" in its title was originally
Our Lady" as Our Lady's Slipper"
and Our Lady's Tresses." In the
remaining, many plants were called
after saints. To-day we retain only
few of these names, as Saint Johns
Wort, Saint Peters Wreath, Saint
Andrews Cross, Saint Josephs Lily,
and Veronica. AS we have swerved
to secularism, we have again changed
the names, though we have never re-
verted to the original titles held be-
fore the Christian era. We name gen.
orally to pay honor to some noted
person, either scientist or otherwise.
The progress of science is nowhere
more marked than in the popular at
titude toward plants. Our ancestors
were as eager for explanations as we
are to-day, and not having our scien-
tific information. they interpreted the
peculiarities of the flowers to suit
their own ideas. From their interpre-
tation of plants on the economic side,
grew the great Doctrine of Signatures
which ruled the medical world down
to the seventeenth century. This
Doctrine of Signatures explained that
''the mercy of God maketh
the grass to grow upon the mountains
and the herbs for the use of man.
and hath not only stamped upon them
distinct form, but also given them
particular signatures. whereby a man
may read even in, legible characters
the use Of them
According to this theory. plants
bearing red fruit were good for the
blood; the barberry because OF it's
yellow bark, was cure for jaundice
thu trembling grass detarred stts-ks