Papaya
I remember in Brazil the latex of green papayas being used to treat warts [Natural History Museum, London, February 2026]. Image: Wikimedia Commons, © Joydeep.
Plant-Lore
Collecting the folklore and uses of plants
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Elder
1. When picking jelly-ear mushrooms [Auricularia auricula judae] was told that you should always ask permission from the elder tree. Hence the phrase You should always respect your elders [Todmorden, West Yorkshire, September 2025], 2. I m from Italy, there we collect Continue reading
Monkeyflower
1. My grandmother grew up in rural Ireland and had a considerable knowledge of the properties of plants there were many superstitious beliefs any flower with spots such as mimulus [monkeyflower] and certain lilies were not to be Continue reading
Moschatel
1. As a child growing up in mid Dorset in the 1950s: moschatel, Adoxa moschatellina a plant connected with magic [e-mail, March 2024]. 2. I used to help at a farm in Sussex. I was told by a woman Continue reading
Oxeye daisy
1. My father knew those [oxeye daisies] as moon pennies; that s a Yorkshire name [Camberwell Old Cemetery, London Borough of Southwark, June 2014]. 2. Moon daisies were known to some Derbyshire children of my acquaintance in pre-war days by the Continue reading
Spindle
Another use of spindle is to plant it in your garden to keep blackfly off your broad beans [Vicia faba]; they go for the spindle and leave the beans alone [Prestwood Nature Reserve, Buckinghamshire, August 2023]. Image: Lawford, Essex, April Continue reading
Ashleaf maple
Boxelder trees (Ashleaf maple) These trees grew in abundance at my Wisconsin home, some upwards of 50 feet in height. In autumn the propellor-shaped seeds would pour down like snow on windy days. We would collect the sap of Continue reading
Stork’s-bill
As children we used to play with stork s-bill (redstem filaree) by making a slit in one bill and then putting another into the slit to play with them as if they were scissors. This was in El Cerrito, California, in Continue reading
Holy bamboo
In the Far East they cut branches of holy [or sacred] bamboo with berries to garland their homes. It is planted near doors so you can tell it your bad dreams at the start of the day [e-mail, January 2022]. Continue reading
Great willowherb
Great willowherb known locally as codlins-and-cream [Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, February 1991]. Image: Ham Riverside Pitches, London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, July 2022.