Mosaic Monday: Frosty Gold

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Sunny In The Rain

Shrubby Cinquefoil - Dasiphora fruticosa - Ölandstok

This flowery shrub, ~1 m tall, is one of the plants that still bring colour to this time of year, shining like little suns even in the rain. The flowers are small, but they are many.

The Swedish name is connected to the island Öland, off our East coast.

Yellow Iris

Below the museum park where the midsummer celebrations took place (see yesterday’s post), there is a little lake. I walked by it on my way home and found masses of these large yellow flowers in bloom along the shores. They looked like irises to me and I think I’ve now established that they are indeed Yellow Iris or Yellow Flag. The latin name is Iris pseudacorus. In Swedish we call it svärdslilja which means ‘sword’s lily’.

Veronica and Buttercup

These blue flowers I remember from my childhood as “grandma’s eyeglasses” – in Swedish, “mormors glasögon”. I never had any idea why. Checking the Swedish Wikipedia article now I find the explanation that in the past, extracts from this plant were used to cure various eye diseases. The leaves have also been used to make herbal tea. Another Swedish name for it is Tea-Veronica. The Latin name is Veronica chamaedrys; in English the plant is also called Germander Speedwell.

The yellow ones are  Ranunculus acris –  English: Buttercup, Swedish: smörblomma ( “butterflower”).
A very common wild flower in Sweden.

Grape Hyacinth - Pärlhyacint

Grape Hyacinth - Muscari – Pärlhyacint

The Swedish name means “pearl hyacinth”.
The Latin name Muscari has to do with the scent said to be resembling musk.

Some species are among the earliest to bloom in the spring. They are planted as bulbs and tend to multiply quickly in well drained sandy soil. May be found in woodlands or meadows, and commonly cultivated in lawns, borders, rock gardens etc.

I’ve sometimes had these on my balcony in the early spring, together with daffodils.
The second photo from my (previous) balcony in 2007.

Yellow and blue are the colours of our Swedish flag.

Blue and yellow have been used as Swedish colours for more than 700 years. According to legend, the Swedish king ‘Eric the Holy’ saw a golden cross in the sky as he landed in Finland during the First Swedish Crusade in the 1150s. Seeing this as a sign from God, King Eric adopted the golden cross against a blue background as his banner. (Historians however debate whether  even the crusade ever took place.)

Now this may sound like something every Swedish person would know. As a matter of fact though, I’m not sure I ever heard that legend until I read it just now in the Wikipedia article!

Coltsfoot – Tussilago farfara

 

  

Coltsfoot – Tussilago farfara – Hästhov / Tussilago

The Swedish name Hästhov means Horse’s Hoof.

The flowers (which superficially resemble dandelions) appear early in the spring, on stems with no apparent leaves. The leaves, which resemble a colt's foot in cross section, do not appear until after the seeds are set.

The Latin name "tussilago" means cough suppressant. The plant has been used historically to treat lung ailments such as asthma as well as various coughs by way of smoking. Crushed flowers supposedly cured skin conditions, and the plant has also been consumed as a food product. Caution, though - there are documented cases of it causing severe liver problems in infants.

Alternative English names include Tash Plant (I’m curious about the origin of that!), Ass's foot, Bull's foot, Butterbur, Coughwort, Foal's foot, Foalswort, Horse Foot and Winter heliotrope. (Source: Wikipedia)

Yellow Spring Flowers

   

While the Pasque flower (see yesterday’s post) seems to prefer a dry meadow, these two like  damp ground. I found them both growing close by the river, downstream from the mill.

 

  

Lesser Celandine – Ranunculus ficaria  – Svalört

Celandine comes from the Latin chelidonia, meaning “of the swallow”. It was said that the flowers bloomed when the swallows returned and faded when they left. The Swedish name, “svalört”,  also literally translates “Swallow Herb”. The plant had medicinal uses in the past. The early leaves are high in Vitamin C.  Ranunculus is Late Latin for "little frog”.

 

  

Marsh-marigold – Caltha palustris - Kabbeleka

From the Wikipedia article I learn that this flower has a lot of different names in the UK: Kingcup, Mayflower, May blob, Water blob, Water bubble… In the US it is sometimes called Cowslip. But in the UK, Cowslip refers to the flower below, which I found growing in the meadow:

 

Cowslip – Primula veris – Gullviva

Cowslip seems to me a mundane name compared to the Swedish one (“golden flower”).
Among other English names for it I find Our Lady’s Keys or Keys of Heaven. In Swedish too this flower has been called by similar names (Jungfru Marie Nycklar = “Keys of the Virgin Mary”).

I’m learning (or re-learning) a lot by blogging…! ☺

Mosaic Monday: Yellow Brick Road

See more Monday Mosaics at Mary's Little Red House.