Think of something yellow. Then double it's yellowness. Then add a bit more yellow. What did you end up with? The yellowest thing you can imagine. It's Spring on the river which means that our favourite plants are bursting with energy, fresh invigorating fragrances, and powerful healing potentials. I've been thinking about yellow though - I always do in Spring. At this time of year meadows are dressed in yellow. These are the flowers that lots of people think of as buttercups but are actually Crowfoot. One of my great heros and teachers Nicolas Culpeper remarked of Crowfoot ('this furious biting herb'!) that 'I do not remember that I ever saw anything yellower'. Well, I have seen a lot of yellow things, and I am convinced that Culpeper himself had seen many yellow things in his time, so is Crowfoot the yellowest of the yellow?
This pointless speculation reached a crossroads of indecision today when I found myself admiring the yellowness of Yellow Flag. Yellow Flag chooses residence in still waters like ponds or the more sedate parts of the river here - and it is very very yellow. It even has yellow in it's name! The sap can burn the skin and if taken internally have some serious and powerful antisocial effects, but the dried root is sometimes used for the treatment of things like menstrual bleeding. In days gone by though when Culpeper a boy telling all his friends about the furious biting Crowfoot, YELLOW Flag was being used in the treatment of liver conditions, which, (you can see now exactly where I am going with this), turns the skin yellow! OK, plant musing gone wildly out of control I know. If there is going to be a prize for it though and I think there should be, there are other contenders out there who should have their say. Dandelion, of course. What about Primroses and Cowslips - more subtle than the other contestants, but very yellow just the same? Right. I promise I'll stop and think of something else instead ............. so, is there anything bluer than Borage at the moment?
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