Moon Day 19
Starts Feb 15, 2025 09:08 PM
Ends Feb 16, 2025 10:07 PM
Day of dangerous ideas, illusions and temptations. Burning of incense and candles cleanses the negative energy and is highly recommended. I suggest burning dried Artemisia, one species of which (probably Artemisia verlotiorum) grows in profusion along the GAP, especially on both sides of Big Savage Tunnel.
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| Artemisia |
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| Artemisia |
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| Deal Rest Stop |
By the beginning of June the grassy area between the Deal Rest Stop and Flaugherty Creek is sprinkled with buttercups, probably the common buttercup, Ranunculus acris. There are over 300 species of buttercup in the genus Ranunculus. The genus name comes from the Latin ranunculus, which means “tadpole or little frog,” probably a reference to the plant’s propensity for growing in moist areas. Buttercups originated in what is now northern Eurasia near the end of the Eocene epoch or during the Oligocene, or from about thirty-five million to twenty-three million years ago. They quickly spread to all the continents, including to what is now Antarctica, where fossil remains have been found dating to the Pliocene epoch 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago. They flourished on the Bering Land Bridge, which included much of what is now Alaska, and may have migrated southward at the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago when Alaska was once again connected to the North American continent. Thus the common buttercup and related species can now be considered native to North America, just as people who crossed from Asia to North America on the Bering Land Bridge (according to most theories) can now be considered Native Americans. Various species of buttercups now occur worldwide, with the exception of Antarctica.
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| Buttercup |
The common buttercup, like all species of Ranunculus, is poisonous when fresh. Even handling the plant can irritate the skin and cause blisters. When dried much of the toxic effect of the fresh plant is negated and the buttercup plant has been used in herbal medicine, especially by Native Americans, to treat rheumatism, fevers, and headaches, but because of its potential toxicity it should probably be avoided by amateur herbalists.
Buttercups possess some special properties. According to botanists:
Buttercups have a trick for warming their flowers that may be unique to this group of plants. Inside each flower petal, special cells create two layers of air that deflect the light reaching them sideways. This makes the petals act together like a parabolic reflector, focusing visible and infrared light on the flower centre. Warming the pollen-producing stamens has previously been shown to boost their growth and the chance of fertilization . . . Insect pollinators prefer warmer flowers, for instance, perhaps because it allows them to keep their own temperature up.
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| Buttercup |
The light reflected by the petals extends beyond the stamens in the center of the flower. Children used to play a game during which they held a buttercup flower just below their chin, hoping to catch the reflected yellow light on their faces. According to a variant of the story, if reflected yellow light was visible on the chin it meant the person liked butter (but then again, who doesn’t like butter?).
Folktales about buttercups abound:
One of the most popular tales tells of a miserly old man who hoarded gold coins. As he walked through a meadow, he refused to share his wealth with a group of fairies. In retaliation, the fairies cut a hole in his sack, causing his coins to spill onto the ground. To hide the gold from the miser, the fairies transformed the scattered coins into buttercups, thus populating the meadow with these bright flowers.
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| Buttercup |
