Tag: flowers

Hydnora Africana plant
The plant grows underground, except for a fleshy flower that emerges above ground and emits an odor of feces to attract its natural pollinators, dung beetles, and carrion beetles.

The flowers act as traps, retaining the beetles that enter, then digesting them and never releasing them when the flower is fully opened.

Rafflesia arnoldii
Rafflesia arnoldii is the world’s largest flower having a diameter of about one meter and weighing up to ten kilograms. It is a rare flower and not easily located. It grows only once a year and blooms for around five days. According to researches in discovery news, this flower that looks and smells like rotting flesh is related to flimsy flowers like violets, poinsettias and passionflowers. Hence it also called as “meat flower” or “corpse flower”.

The flower is pollinated by flies and carrion beetles attracted by its vile smell. It contains about 27 species and found in Indonesian rain forests of southeastern Asia and Philippines. Rafflesia is an official state flower of Indonesia, Surat Thani Province in Thailand and Sabah state in Malaysia.

The Healing Properties of Trees & Flowers

  • BIRCH – this tree is indicative of cleanliness & determination in   overcoming adversity. Use when wanting to make a fresh start & ridding yourself of bad influences 
  • ALDER – is a water-loving tree, the God linked with this tree is Bran the blessed, is for spiritual protection & prophecy. 
  • WILLOW – medicine stands for female & lunar rhythms of life. She is water-seeking like the alder. Offers protection against damp diseases & modern herbal Practioners extract salicin from the bark to be used to ease illnesses like rheumatic fever. The gift of fertility is also represented here. 
  • ASH– The World Tree, it has deep penetrating roots which change the chemistry of the soil, making undergrowth difficult for other vegetation. Helps link the earthly and spiritual. Good medicine for meditation.  
  • HAWTHORN – Small tree with dense, many-branched body. Best used for cleansing & chastity, bringing protection from the inner magical realms. 
  • OAK – The Oak’s place in Celtic lunar calendar is seventh among thirteen months. The Oak has protected England through the use of his timbers for the building of ships. Oaks are used as boundary marker. Oak medicine is best used for securing your pursuits, protecting while attaining your goals. It is essential protection for those less able, who require security in order to strengthen their characters. 
  • HOLLY – a white-wooded tree with almost invisible grain, looks much like ivory. Holly is associated with the death and rebirth symbolism in both Pagan & Christian lore. In Arthurian legend, Gawain (Representing the Oak King of summer) fought the Green Knight, who was armed with a Holly club to represent winter. Holly medicine may be used with difficulties in sleep and to ease the passage of death. 
  • HAZEL – Hazel embodies many talents: poetry, divination, and the powers of meditation. In Celtic tradition, the Salmon of knowledge is said to eat the nuts dropped into its sacred pool from this tree growing beside it. Each nut eaten by the salmon becomes a spot on its skin. In Europe and North America, Hazel is used to gain knowledge, wisdom & poetic inspiration. 
  • APPLE– A dense, fine grained, rosy colored wood with a sweet smell. Apple is associated with choice. This is good medicine to use when your are having difficulty in making decisions, whether they are work or relationship oriented. 
  • VINE – This is used in the development of prophetic powers, best when used while trying to reach deeper state of consciousness and when doing healing work. 
  • IVY – Represents the spiral of the self and the search for self. The maze of the labyrinth is also linked to Ivy, since it symbolized the wondering soul, circling inward and outward, seeking nourishment from within & without, leading you to ENLIGHTENMENT . A wonderful aid if helping others on a spiritual journey. 
  • REED – Helps create spiritual weapons – gives you direction. Best when used before beginning healing work or soul retrievals. 
  • BLACKTHORN– is a wintery tree. Fruits, known as sloes, only ripen after the first frost. The Gaelic word “staif” has links with English word “strife”. Wood of Blackthorn is traditionally used with the Irish shillelagh. It represents the strong action of fate or outside influences in your life. Blackthorn should not be used by the novice. 
  • ELDER – is linked to eternal turnings of life and death, birth and rebirth. It represents the end/beginning and beginning/end. Significant of creativity and renewal.. new beginnings. 
  • SILVER FIR – is used to bring knowledge of your present and past lives into now. The color sliver links you to your SILVER THREAD symbolizing your awareness of the progress of your spiritual journey. Best used when searching for gift of INSIGHT. 
  • HEATHER – used for Solitary healing work (going within) Heather along with mistletoe create powerful healing medicine in both spiritual and physical aspects. 
  • WHITE POPLAR – concerns with earthly and material aspects of Life. Also with finding the spiritual determination to face hardship we have to endure. This tree has the ability to resist and to shield, also an ability with languages and speech with close relationship with the winds. 
  • YEW – mostly found in ancient cemeteries. In Breton Legen, the tree is said to grow a root into the open mouth of each corpse buried in the graveyard. This root is the symbol of rebirth. Good medicine when used in working with past life issues and regression. 
  • GROVE– tree of All Knowledge. The grove represents a sacred place where all is linked and becomes clear. Helps you look beneath the surface of things.. whether situations or people. Medicine works with your hidden knowledge, helping you to manifest it at the appropriate time. 
  • SPINDLE – completion of tasks. Ability to complete something to its end, no matter how difficult. Good for progressing in certain areas of your life which are of difficulty to you. 
  • HONEYSUCKLE – helps you to distinguish what is real from what is false, and what is of real value on your journey. The honeysuckle will help you tread safely – remaining true to your quest. 
  • BEECH – Beech wood is close grained and easy t work with – smooth and even surface. Beech medicine can tell you about yesterday and how it is relevant today. Handling old objects or visiting a place connected to your past will bring understanding of people, incidents, reviving the memories within that are needed.

The Healing Properties of Trees & Flowers

The Mobile Garden’s portion of Art on Track invited passengers to walk on a thick carpet of green grass, which greeted them at the train car entrance. Each plastic seat was also lined with the lush grass, giving the sensation of sitting on a grassy knoll, rather than commuting around downtown Chicago. Potted local plants rested on seats, on window sills, and on the floor, adding splashes of pinks, purples and reds with their small blossoms. Hanging plants dangled strands of leaves, flowers and berries all along the ceiling. Ivy-like plants also snaked around the poles and rails. Indigenous plants and sod were donated to The Mobile Garden, which is a project run by non-profit, noisivelvet. Plants and materials were generously donated to outfit the project by local sod farms, green roof gardens, and arboretums. Members of the Chicago art community rode the train to discuss the exhibition with passengers.

This is Titan arum, also known as the corpse flower. It flowers rarely, but when it does the overpowering smell of rotting meat fills the area due to it being a carrion plant. The stench attracts flies and beetles for pollination. The flower(s) itself is enormous, having the largest inflorescence in the world. It cannot technically be the largest flower however, because it is actually composed of many smaller flowers.