Green Shakespeare: Shakespeare's plants and shrubbery in Estonia

In this post I’m shortly going to describe some plants/shrubs that Shakespeare has used and whether they exist and if they are grown in Estonia or not.

Plantain

Plantain aka cooking banana, are banana cultivars in the genus Musa whose fruits are generally used in cooking. They may be eaten while ripe or unripe and are generally starchy. Some cooking bananas are also referred to as green bananas or plantains. (Wikipedia, n.d) Bananas are not grown in Estonia, but are very well known and loved. Most bananas are imported to Estonia from either South-America or Asia, with India being the biggest exporter of bananas in the world. On the Estonian markets, sweet, dessert bananas are sold, which are consumed just by eating (Wikipedia, n.d)

Plantain tree

Senna

Senna aka Plantago Major, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The plant is native to most of Europe and northern and central Asia, but has widely naturalised elsewhere in the world. It is known for its medical use for treating wounds. (Wikipedia, n.d)

In Estonia, Senna is a conservative plant, but found growing everywhere. It grows in paths, yards, coasts and meadows. In Estonian traditional medicine, Senna is known for its ability to stop bleeding and cleanse blood. The crushed leaves are put on fresh wounds. Senna is also used to treat liver and kidney diseases, head and toothache. The tea from dried leaves has been used as a lukewarm tool for cough and sputum. (Suik, Katrin 2017)

Senna leaves

Thyme

Thyme is an aromatic perennial evergreen herb with culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. Information of using thyme as a medicinal herb comes from Ancient Greece - Hippocrates has described the usage of thyme as well as Dioscroides. Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. In the European Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off nightmares. Thyme was also used as incense and placed on coffins during funerals, as it was supposed to assure passage into the next life. Thyme is most commonly used in Mediterranean countries as is grows very well there. (Telegram, 2014)

In Estonia, thyme is only grown as a cultural herb. It is also called by the name aed-liivatee. Dried leaves are mainly used to season soups, meat dishes and sausages. Thyme has an antiseptic quality. A well-known flavouring and medicinal plant, and also used in the cosmetics industry. Used for puffiness, menstrual pain, cleanses the intestines and acts as a diuretic. Tea can be made from dry leaves and adding a thyme soak to your bathwater works well for a cough. (Toidutare, n.d)

Flowering thyme

Willow

Willows, also called sallows, and osiers, form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow (from Old English sealh, related to the Latin word salix, willow).

In Estonia, there are 20 natural and 10 in brought species of willow, and many hybrids. Estonian willows are sorted by their preferred growth spot. So either near water, in bogs, on meadows or on dunes. Some species are too afraid of the cold to grow in Estonia, but some only grow here. (Bio.edu.ee, n.d)

The highest and thickest silver willow in Estonia was 29 meters high and 7,83 m thick, and was located in Harjumaa at Raasiku railway station. The tree was destroyed in a fire in 2011. (Relve, Hendrik, n.d)

Golden weeping willow

Links used

Green Shakespeare

12/04/2017

Shakespeare's plants and shrubbery in Estonia

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