nybg:
plant-a-day:
Photos courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr (1) (2) (3) and Tigerente.
Briza maxima aka Quaking Grass. Family Poaceae. Native to the Mediterranean. Hardy in zones 5-10.
This struck me as a possible candidate for odd folkloric backstories, and my search wasn’t disappointing. It’s called quaking grass because the plant’s pendant-like, heart-shaped flowers and seedheads tremble in the slightest breeze. Naturally, it was the British(the somewhat smaller Briza media grows in abundance in the UK) who came up with some of the best myths.
Children were sometimes told that if the seedheads ever stopped shaking, they’d turn into silver coins. Other stories claim the plant would only grow in an area where a heartbroken young woman had died. And one tale, particularly apropos considering my regular chatter over the Doctrine of Signatures, claims that the shaking of the quaker grass, when kept in the home, would relieve the trembling associated with fever. —MN