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Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: BOX SPRIGS
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 Sprigs of box are carried in procession in Brittany to welcome summer. This is probably connected with the custom of bearing a sprig of local greens on Palm Sunday. Where palm fronds were not available (or harking back to pre-Christian plant lore) the early catkins of yew or willow were used, or as in Brittany, sprigs of box. All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the leaves and bark. Box was used medicinally in the past, as a sedative and to treat rheumatism. This hardy plant is native to woodlands and thickets and thrives on steep slopes on chalk, and in scrub on chalk downland. In France, boxwood has been used as a substitute for hops. The root (called dudgeon wood) is good material for handles of daggers, small boxes and wooden flutes. Box was once part of a famous remedy for a rabies bite. Most animals will not eat it, although powdered box leaves were given to horses, in careful doses, to improve their coats and to cure bot-worm. The Folklore of Plants by by T. F. Thiselton-Dyer: http://www.archive.org/stream/thefolkloreofpla10118gut/10118.txt Mrs. Grieve's Modern Herbal Box Sprigs plaque created by Fedelm Cruithni especially for the Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt. |
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~ Table of Contents ~
Feverfew
Lavender Ladybugs Thyme Bay Laurel Mint Answers to Spring Equinox Quix Dandelion for Spring Tonic Sun-Infused Calendula Healing Salve Fiddleheads Nettles for Spring Daffodil Quiz Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: THE SACRED OAK Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: VERVAIN Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08: MARIGOLDS AND MAIDENS Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08: THE CHARM OF IVY Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: GREEN WHEAT EARS Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: FLAX BLOSSOMS Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08 - GARLIC Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: EGLANTINE Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: Mystic Mistletoe Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: Magical Fern Seeds Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: Hawthorn |
