May 14: Wild Ginger and English Daisy

This pair sounds like a movie waiting to happen. It could be about a young American debutante (Paris Hilton, in a role made to order) and her demure English maid (Kelly Macdonald, who played Evangeline in "Nanny McPhee"). Ginger has a fiance who, initially attracted by Ginger's sultry persona, eventually tires of her drama and falls in love with Daisy, then marries her, rescuing her from a life worse than death!

But I digress.

Wild Ginger has a very interesting flower, though it is hard to spot. Here's what Wild Ginger looks like as you walk by. (The Wild Ginger leaves look sort of like hearts.)

Wild Ginger

Doesn't look like there are any flowers, does it? But when you peek underneath the leaves, you see this:

Wild Ginger flower

The flower is the thing that looks like a little brown jug lying on the ground. It depends on inserts such as flies, ants and beetles to pollinate it, so it mimics the look of decomposing flesh. The flower also serves as a place for early spring flies to "hide out" when weather gets cold and windy.

It's said that Native Americans and early settlers used the Wild Ginger root as a spice, first drying it then grinding it into a powder. Or they boiled the root in sugar water to make pancake syrup. But scientists now think the plant is poisonous and discourage its consumption.

The plant was also used to make a poultice to treat wounds.

English Daisy is much easier to spot. Being white and growing on grass, it attracts attention from far away.

English Daisy

It's said that having English Daisy in your lawn is a sign that you are mowing your lawn too closely.

The word "daisy" comes from the term "day's eye" because the flowers open and close with the sun. In literature, a daisy represents simplicity and modesty. Daisies are the flower that are used with the "He loves me, he loves me not" game (you pluck a petal with each phrase until you come to the last one).

Here's an interesting website about flowers and their history. According to the site, King Henry VIII ate dishes of daisies to cure stomachache, and people thought that drinking crushed daisies steeped in wine could cure insanity. At least, if you gave someone enough of the mixture, the behavior of sane and insane person wouldn't be that different!