On the Wildside: Wordsworth’s favourite spring flower

Wordsworth suggested that the painter who first tried to picture the rising sun took their inspiration from the spreading, golden petals of the flower, the ‘glittering countenance’. Carpeting shady damp areas such as streamside woodlands, or old churchyard, the leaves emerge as one of the earliest plants to show towards the winter’s end, and then the golden-yellow flowers follow from February onwards. The early leaves are heart-shaped and the later ones, often with dark blotches, are a little like ivy-leaves. Once the flowers emerge, the golden outer petals provide a brilliant effect especially when they are en masse, but they respond to sunlight to open out when it is sunny but close again when cloudy or at nightfall. It is believed that the name originates from the Middle English word ‘celydon’ (Anglo-French ‘celidoine’) and derived from Latin ‘chelidonia’ and from Greek ‘chelidonios’, all meaning the swallow. The emergence and opening of celandine flowers was supposed to mirror the arrival of these birds.

Lesser celandine flowers are provided with honey-sacs to attract pollinating insects, but being early in the season and sometimes out before the insects are, they have a second means of reproduction. Where the upper leaves join the stem, later in the year, they produce little vegetative bulbils which can be shed particularly following heavy downpours of rain and leading to masses of celandine growth in suitable habitats.

Celandine has another common name, which is ‘pilewort’ and this is based on the ‘doctrine of symbols’ whereby a plant looks like the disease or ailment that it is supposed to help cure.

In this particular case, it was said that ‘if you dig up the root of it you will perceive the perfect image of the disease commonly called the piles’. Because of this, the plant was made into a decoction to ‘wonderfully help piles and haemorrhoids’ and clear foul and filthy humours.

Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer & broadcaster on wildlife & environmental

issues, is contactable on [email protected]; follow Ian’s blog (https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/) and Twitter @IanThewildside