Culture factsheet
Warfare
Many of our cultural connections with plants have been established
or strengthened in times of war. Wild plants have been used to
make the weapons of war, but they have also long been used to
cure the wounds of war. Wartime is often when wild foods and
herbal medicines come back into favour through necessity. It is
also a time of heightened emotions and wild plants are often
used as emblems of love. Perhaps the most potent wild plant
symbol in Britain is the remembrance poppy.
Wild plants have been used to make the weapons of war, such as
the yew bows of medieval England, the oldest man-made
artefact in Britain, the 150,000 year-old year lance tip found
near Clacton in 1911, or the bluebell starch used to glue
feathers to the arrows. The humble daisy may have acquired its
Latin name (Bellis) from its use as a wound herb in times of war.
One of the first textbooks of medicinal plants was written by a
surgeon in the Roman army (Dioscorides) and it was used
throughout Europe, including Britain, from the first century AD
to the 1500s. Cúchulainn, the Celtic warrior, suffered from
such uncontrollable rages that he carried meadowsweet in his
belt to calm himself.
Pasque flowers are said to grow
where the blood of Viking or Danish warriors
fell, and Crusaders were given a stirrup cup
with a borage flower floating in it to give them
courage before they set off.
Wartime is often when wild foods and herbal medicines come back into
favour, for example, the collections of the national herb committees and the
school-time rosehip collections of World War II. The government promoted the
collection of wild plant foods and recipes through experts such as Marguerite
Patten. Sphagnum moss was collected in industrial quantities for wound
dressings in both world wars, often by schoolchildren, scouts and
guides. Wartime also provides unexpected habitats for some plants such
as the rosebay willow herb or ‘bomb weed’ that flourished in the Blitzdamaged London.
The displaced individuals and communities of war also carry plants and
their cultural associations to different areas. One example of this is
the planting of holly hedges in East Anglia by Scottish prisoners from
the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, and the names of Polish servicemen
billeted at Taymouth Castle during the Second World War carved into
beech trunks.
Wild plants are often used as symbols of love and remembrance in
the heightened emotions of war. The many thousands of silk
postcards produced by French and Belgian refugees and sent
home by troops in World War I often featured wild plants
including daisies, poppies, cornflowers, wild pansy, holly,
mistletoe, shamrock, roses and thistles. The poppies that
sprang up in the battlefields of World War I and the poem ‘In
Flanders Field’ were the source of the annual Poppy Day
ceremonies of remembrance.
References:
Collins, I, 2001, An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk
Postcard
Mabey, R. 1996, Flora Britannica
Millikins W & Bridgewater S, 2004, Flora Celtica
Savage, F. 1926, Shakespeare’s Flora and Folklore
Some of the plants associated with war and warfare
Birch bark (Betula pendula) - Savage (1926) records that the retreating Russian soldiers
in World War I used birch bark squares to write letters home, leaving a distinctive
pattern in the woods
Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) - The bulb was used to make glue for arrow
feathers
Borage (Borago officinale) - The flower is associated with courage – it was given
to knights in their stirrup cup before they went to the Crusades
Clustered Bellflower (Campanula glomerata) - Said to grow on the graves of
fallen warriors in some English counties
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) - One of the wild medicinal plants collected by
the herb committees in World War II
Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) - The Celtic warrior Cúchulainn was
said to suffer from such uncontrollable rages that he was bathed in baths of
meadowsweet and kept a sprig in his belt, giving it its Gaelic name crios
Cuchulainn (Cúchulainn’s belt)
Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) - It was said to grow on the tombs of
fallen Vikings and Danes, or where blood had been spilt in battle
Rosebay Willow Herb (Epilobium angustifolium) - this plant was called
‘bomb weed’ because it grew in the bomb sites following the Blitz in
World War II
Rosehip (Rosa canina) - Rosehip berries were collected by women and
children throughout World War II and beyond for their vitamin content
Sphagnum Moss (Sphagnum species) - Collected in industrial
quantities in World Wars I & II for use as wound dressings
Speedwell (Veronica species) - Lieutenant-Colonel John Cameron
carried seeds of speedwell in his pocket for good luck, but was killed at
Waterloo
Sweet Violet (Viola odorata) - This was the symbol
of Napoleon and his supporters - he promised to
return from Elba in the spring, like the violets
Woad (Isatis tinctoria) - Said by the Roman writers to have been used by British
warriors but not all authorities are convinced by this
Yew (Taxus baccata) - The wood was often used to make bows in medieval Britain
Wild plants have often been used, to the present day, for naming warships, e.g the
Mary Rose, and in military insignia
Many of the wild medicinal plants in the herbal of Dioscorides (used by the Roman
army and by many subsequent cultures in Europe from the 1st AD to the 1500s) can
be found in Britain
The consounds or wound herbs include comfrey, daisy, betony
The wild plants often included on World War I silk postcards include daisies,
cornflowers, poppies, forget-me-not, mistletoe, shamrock, thistles, roses and
corn marigold.
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