Nemophilia
Rock n’ Roll flower of the week: Nemophilia
Rule #1 at the Cracked Pot: any plant, flower, fruit or vegetable that’s black is definitely Rock n’ Roll, and earns a place in the weekly Rock n’ Roll Gardening Hall of Fame.
This week’s winner is Nemophilia Menziesii- or the Penny Black flower.
Nemophilia is a native North American plant that starts easily from seed and grows in hardy little clusters during the spring. Once blooming, this little rock n’ roll variety is covered in black flowers with white edges.
Nemophilia (n. latin) means “woodland-loving.” It comes from the Greek word nemos, which means “grove” and the Greek word philia, which means, “loving”.
It’s also pretty close to the word nymphofilia, meaning “sexual attraction to young women”- definitely the hallmark of Rock n’ Roll. This alone earns the plant a double honour.
The variety shown here goes by the common name, Penny Black. Not only could this easily be the name of a garage punk band started in Seattle in the 90’s, but it’s also the name of the world’s first adhesive postage stamp issued in England in the 1840s. This stamp was black, featured Queen Victoria and cost only a penny. It also looked fuckin’ cool, and could easily be cover art for their first album.
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