On the Wildside: A rose by any other name…
With apologies to William Shakes-peare, this phrase came to mind, when my Christmas roses burst forth into bloom in December. With subsequent very cold, snowy weather, this was a short-lived burst of activity before a relapse into winter torpor.
However, it does make the point that with changing seasonal patterns, many flowers formerly only to be seen in summertime can be found, in flower, almost year-round, and in this case certainly into January from the year preceding. I also found common hogweed, red campion, ox-eye daisy, cow parsley, and numerous other common wildflowers blooming throughout the wintertime.
My first snowdrops emerged in the garden before the end of January and so overlapped with the still flowering roses. Of course, the real ‘Christmas rose‘ is the ‘black hellebore’ (Helleborus niger), an evergreen plant of the buttercup family, which is commonly grown in gardens and historically, although poisonous, was a cottage garden favourite. Because the hellebore grows and flowers in the harshest depths of winter, this native of central and southern Europe, had a degree of mystery about it. In the wild there are two native cousins of the Christmas rose plus various escapees, and increasingly so with our warming climate.
With its toxic properties, the plant was used in traditional medicines for both people and for livestock, though some of the applications are, to say the least, questionable. For instance, if you had a ‘beast troubled with cough or having taken any poisonous thing’ it would be cured by making a hole in its ear and passing through the hole a piece of root of Christmas rose.
My advice is ‘don’t try this at home’! The extract of the plant is described as ‘drastically purgative’ and must be ‘administered with great care’ but even so, it was still used to treat nervous disorders and hysteria. Applied locally, the fresh root is violently irritant, and I think overall, the comment would be ‘avoid at all costs’!
Despite the now cold weather many birds are singing, and like my local tawny owls, establishing territories and potentially breeding.
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
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