A Druid's Handbook to the Spiritual Power of Plants: Spagyrics in Magical and Sexual Rituals - Jon G. Hughes 2014
Flower Structure
The Flower
Assessing the Natural Resources
The most significant aspect of the flower is that it carries the reproductive parts of the plant, and although flowering plants differ dramatically in their appearance, they are all constructed of three basic component parts: the root, the stem, and the leaf. The part of the stem that carries the plant’s flower is called the inflorescence. The flowers themselves form on the inflorescence in a variety of ways, depending on the particular genus and species involved. There are, as always, a collection of Latin names for the different types of formations. You may find these names in any good botanical book, but for our purposes they are not important. As the shape of the flower formation will be one of the identifying features you will use, there is no real need for you to know the scientific names of the various forms.
The parts of the flower may be seen as modified leaves and usually form in a series of circles around the stem base. It would be useful to read this next section with a flower close by for reference. If we begin at the base of the flower, where it joins the stem, we can look at each of the individual circles as we progress to the center.
The first (outer) ring is most commonly separated into green sepals (the calyx). It is these sepals that protect the flower bud before it blooms. In an open flower they usually appear as a green “cup” underneath the flower where it joins the stem. Above the sepals we see the inner circle of usually brightly colored petals (the corolla). It is these petals that usually hold the nectar-producing glands (the nectaries) that attract insects and aid pollination. These two outer rings (the sepals and the petals) form the floral receptacle (the perianth) containing the reproductive parts of the flower.
Moving inward toward the center of the flower, the next thing we see is a circle (or sometimes circles) of stamens, the male part of the flower (the androecium). Each individual stamen consists of a fine filament tipped with an anther. It is these anthers that produce the pollen necessary for the reproductive process of the plant.
The final and innermost circle is the female part of the flower, the pistil (the gynoecium). The pistil consists of at least one carpel, and frequently more. Each carpel contains one or more placentas with an immature seed (an ovule) attached to it. The pistil as a whole is divided into the ovary, the style, and the stigma.
The plant reproduces by means of a fruit, which develops from the ovary after pollination. Pollination typically occurs when the pollen of one plant is transferred to the pistils of another by adhering to the surface of an insect or by being carried by air currents. The fruit protects the seeds until they are ripe and often plays a role in the seeds’ dispersal.
In many flowers the associated parts vary in their relative position. Descriptions and explanations of the distribution of the parts of most flowers may be found in any good botanical publication. Once again, it may be necessary for you to commit the various compositions of the flowers you use to memory. Alternatively, you may choose to build an information base of your own, containing the more common plants of your area, so that you may refer to it regularly.
You will note in the section above that I have deviated from my general rule of not using scientific (usually Latin or Greek) names for the parts of the flower. This is deliberate, so that as you seek further information in other, more detailed botanical publications, you will be able to identify the relevant parts of the flower by the “official” names that will undoubtedly appear within the text. It also may be useful to refer to the illustration below identifying the various elements of a typical flower.
Having read and understood the above, you now possess a greater “scientific” knowledge of the flower and the reproductive cycle of plants than the most learned of ancient Druid priests.
Ancient Druids viewed plants as much more than just physical objects and saw their attributes as extending far beyond the physical properties of today’s “scientific” approach. As we have already seen, the tradition we have inherited acknowledges that plants have latent energies along with their physical and magical attributes. It is this fundamentally holistic appreciation of the plant and its flowers that provides us with the basis of our contemporary Druidic plant lore.
The ancient Druids understood that a plant has certain physical characteristics that may be readily observed, and in understanding these characteristics it is sometimes possible to predict the behavior of the plant through the seasons. In the same way, they also realized that they could reproduce the beneficial results of using the physical, medicinal properties of certain plants over and over again when they were used in the same circumstances. But unlike modern-day medical practitioners, they believed these beneficial results were achieved to their full potential only if the latent energies and magical attributes of the plant were employed with equal vigor.
Understanding the Druidic conception of the flower’s structure, its reproductive cycle, and its energies and attributes is essential to understanding how flowers are used in Druidic plant lore. Druidic plant lore holds that the flower itself consists of two basic components once it has been separated from the plant stem—the petals and the remaining flower head.
The petals are the male part of the flower. All petals come under the associated influence of the sun no matter what the particular central influence of the genus or species may be (see here to recall the difference between central and associated influences). As the receptors of the sun’s energies and the sun’s influences, the petals assume the male provider role.
The ancient Druids appreciated some flowers’ functions both in following the sun’s progress across the sky and in opening and closing as the sun rises and sets. This was seen to be the result of the petals’ relationship with the sun, responding to the energies they absorb from the sun’s light and heat and the magical attributes given to the plant by the sun and collected through the flower’s petals. The energies of the sun provide the fuel for the plant’s movements, and the magical attributes give the plant the spirit and “intelligence” to control its animation.
In their role as receptors, coupled with the Druidic theory that plants and flowers breathe through their leaves and petals, the petals of the flower are associated with the two elements of fire (the sun’s heat and light) and air (the breathing function of the petal). These two elements are considered male and are themselves associated with the central influences of the sun. The Druids also recognized that the petals give the flower its captivating appearance, its intoxicating fragrance, and its (sometimes) sweet taste. With the combination of all their virtues, it is from the petals that we refine the first of the plant’s cardinal essences.
Once we remove the petals, the remaining components of the flower, in the Druidic tradition, comprise the flower head. We now know that this flower head contains both the male and female reproductive organs of the plant, but to the ancient Druids this was the female component of the flower.
Even though they had no knowledge of the plant’s reproductive system, they understood that it was the core, or central part of the flower, that yielded the eventual seed. This can be seen from the Druidic name for the flower head, croth, meaning “womb.” As there was also no real understanding of the various component parts of the flower head, the whole flower, minus its petals, was seen to be the reproductive organ. It gained its nourishment from the earth and from the rain that fell upon it, which it then “drank.” It was also significant that in some plants, notably the dandelion, the flower head swells before releasing its seeds (the dandelion “clock”). This was associated with the female pregnancy and further reinforced the femininity of the flower head. But as the Druids were mostly concerned with the plant’s energies and attributes, it is the flower head’s association with the elements of earth and water that define it as female and bring it within the associated influences of the moon. It is, then, from the remaining flower head that we refine the second of the plant’s cardinal essences.