What's in a name?By Pat Gibson March 25, 1987 |
 |
Common names for many flowers and birds often have strange myths behind them. Some plants have been valued in folk medicine because of the way they look and some poor critters have suffered because of folk lore about their behavior.
The lovely rattlesnake flower is reputed to be a cure for snake-bite. The tiny purple flowers look like snapdragons with two white fangs hanging out the front. Old folk lore said that a poultice of the plant would draw out the poison. Personally, I'd head for Dr. Wilson's office or call the EMS if I had a run-in with one of those nasty reptiles. Keep an eye out for the flower because if is pretty even if it does have a nasty name.
The connection of the way a flower or plant looks with the condition it can be used to treat is based on sympathetic magic. The famous ginseng plants of herb lore get some of their reputed potency from its resemblance to a human form. Some herbs are reputed to cure a particular organ of the body because the leaves resemble that organ.
Among birds, owls are considered wise because their eyes are facing forward as humans eyes do. The resemblance to a human face developed them the reputation of wisdom.
Another bird family has somehow acquired the strange family name of goatsuckers. Now in this group are such very beneficial birds as the nighthawk and the whip-poor-will. They eat many flying insects as they swoop across the evening sky. How anyone could think that any self-respecting goat would allow a sharp billed bird to milk them is beyond me. The reference I saw said the size of the birds mouth led to the speculation that they milked goats.
Bats are another flying critter that has many myths about it. Some folks think it will fly into your hair and get tangled up on purpose. Others think that all bats drink blood. The only bats that feed on blood live in Mexico . Most of our bats here in the Hill Country eat insects, and lots of them. Some unfortunately get rabies and that is a serious problem, but they are a beneficial critter.
There are a lot of wild things that make life more bearable, but that's another story.
 Return
to Sulfur Creek |
Return to Writing by PK Gibson |