Status Updates From The Origin of Plants: The P...

The Chinese consider the symbolic nature of the orchid to be as a true gentleman, for its delicate fragrance in perfuming a room is only noticed once he departs. The writer Lesley Gordon remarked that the blooms are a 'mink-and-cleavage flower, which seems to aptly describe both their modern-day roles. Sufragettes may have had in mind the flowers' flaunting nature when in 1913 they nearly destroyed the Orchid House

The Star of Bethlehem is not an energetic flower like some plants, but awakes at about eleven o'clock in the morning and by three p. m. is exhausted and retires for the night. It was known throughout Europe as the Eleven O'Clock Lady, or Wake-at-Noon... what a reputation!

T. serpyllum is the herb Shakespeare referred to when he wrote,'I know a bank whereon the wall thyme blows'. It is known as Shepher'd Thyme, and was believed to bring ill luck if brought into the home.As with many sweet-smelling flowers,it was often thought that the souls if the dead reside in the blooms.It is just as well, therefore, that no such notions are attached to T. vulgaris, the pot herb of the bouquet garni

I've been enjoying this... It's too substantial a book to take on holiday with me, though!