Scottish Thistle.

The Scottish thistle, otherwise known as the spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), has an honoured place in our flower bed. A weed is a flower in the wrong place - according to the gardeners’ mantra - and I have been nurturing this specimen from a seedling in preparation for today. As always, I have learnt something from this macro shot, even if it is only one of Donald Rumsfeld‘s “unknown unknowns"; entwined about the spines on the flower bud is a fibre, somewhat similar to a spider's thread, a feature of all the buds on this plant and of all the suitably detailed photographs on the internet. I have absolutely no idea what it is, or either its function or origin. As they used to say on the radio, “Answers on a postcard, please.”

The origin of the thistle as our national flower, apparently dates back to 600 years ago when the Norse made a nocturnal invasion of Largs. The marauders removed their shoes so that they could tread quietly (on grass? That sounds suspicious, they probably didn’t even possess shoes) and one of their number was sufficiently careless to tread on a thistle and cry out in pain, as well he might. The Scots were thus warned and routed the enemy. The flower was first used as a national emblem in 1470 by James III who had it incorporated in the design of a coin.
I had heard the basic story before I looked it up but had imagined it to be much more recent, 1715 or 1745 perhaps.

The bee is the garden bumblebee, Bombus hortorum, distinguished by having a stripe bridging the thorax and abdomen, though purists would argue that this is really two separate bands. It has rather a long tongue, as long as the bee itself, enabling it to reach flower parts that other bees cannot; very useful when feeding off thistles.

I’ve just posted yesterday’s, “Work in Progress.”