Friday, September 21, 2012
The blue-green fronds of rue were admired for their beauty in the Middle Ages, and the intensely aromatic leaves were prized as a condiment, a medicament, and an amulet.?? Photograph by Carly Still
Here is a shadowed grove which takes its color
From the miniature forest of glaucous rue.
Through its small leaves and short umbels which rise
Like clusters of spears it sends the wind???s breath
And the sun’s rays down to its roots below.
Touch it but gently and it yields a heavy
Fragrance. Many a healing power it has ???
Especially, they say, to combat
Hidden toxin and to expel from the bowels
The invading forces of noxious poison.
???Hortulus, Walahfrid Strabo, translated by Raef Payne
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Tags: Anethum graveolens, Apicius, Apium graveolens, bitter, Capitulare de Villis, Dioscorides, Hildegard of Bingen, Hortulus, Mithridates VI, mithridatum, phytodermatitis, Pliny, rue, Ruta graveolens, St. Gall, Tacuinum Sanitatis, Walahfrid Strabo
Posted in Food and Beverage Plants, Fragrant Plants, Gardening at The Cloisters, Magical Plants, Medicinal Plants | Comments (0)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterfly is commonly found in fields, gardens, and open spaces in the Northeastern United States. Above, left: The body of the fully developed caterpillar with its bold, bright bands of yellow, green, and black, is conspicuous against the feathery foliage of the fennel which is its favorite food; center: a female Black Swallowtail at rest on a salvia in Cuxa garden, as seen from above; right: the same butterfly seen in profile with its wings folded upward. Photographs by Corey Eilhardt.
We found several large, boldly marked caterpillars feeding on a stand of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) in Bonnefont garden last month. We left them undisturbed, knowing from past experience that they would grow up to be beautiful eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies. Read more »
Tags: Apiaceae, Black Swallowtail, caterpillar, Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, furanocoumarins, osmeterium, Papilio polyxenes, photodermatitis, phytotoxins, Ruta graveolens
Posted in Gardening at The Cloisters | Comments (1)