Thursday, August 07, 2008

Queen of the Road

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Where the day lilies used to bloom, Queen Anne’s Lace now rules the roadsides. The delicate white umbels nod and sway gracefully as if they are waving hello as you pass by. For a lowly member of the carrot family, it has had bestowed upon it a truly royal name.


Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Just how did it come by its name?  The American legend says that Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), queen consort of King James I, was an expert lace-maker. The central flower of the carrot’s umbel is reddish-purple. This odd flower was placed upon the umbel for the time Anne pricked her finger and a drop of blood stained the lace. According to Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the name Queen Anne’s lace did not appear in print until 1895, two hundred seventy-six years after Anne’s death.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Another legend says:
Queen Anne’s Lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, an expert lace maker. English legend tells us that Queen Anne challenged the ladies of the court to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as lovely as the flower of this plant. No one could rival the queen’s handiwork. She however, pricked her finger with a needle and a single drop of blood fell into the lace, that is said to be the dark purple floret in the center of the flower.


Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


One anecdote says Queen Anne’s Lace is so called because one tiny purplish floret in the center is the queen. The white florets make up her lace collar.


Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


Yet another says that the white clusters apparently reminded the British of Queen Anne’s lace headdress.


Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


English botanist Geoffrey Grigson suggests that the name of the plant comes not from a Queen of England but from Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary and the patron saint of lacemakers.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Whatever the true origin of its name, this lacey lovely graces the ground wherever it grows.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Next entry: N is for New York (City)

Previous entry: Bug Camoflage

About

Welcome, I'm Lynne. You know me better as a 'new' Jersey Girl. But now I've moved once again, this time to North Carolina. Here I write about my thoughts, good food, and of course, dogs.

© 2006-2023 Lynne Robinson All photography and text on this blog is copyright. For use or reproduction please ask me first.

If you’re new to this site and wish to read the blog entries in chronological order, click here.

Membership

Login  |  Register
March 2024
S M T W T F S
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31            

Search

Recent Comments

  • C, no I did not know you played the organ, let along playing one in…

    Posted to: ‘I Could Have Been A ...’ by Lynne on 11/17/2023

  • Big sis, but so not fair that I got stuck with the organ! :( Please,…

    Posted to: ‘I Could Have Been A ...’ by Lynne on 11/17/2023

  • Interesting! I never wanted to take ballet lessons even though we had a book about…

    Posted to: ‘I Could Have Been A ...’ by Carolyn Clarke on 11/17/2023

  • Yup! Sadly, no ballet for us. My theory is that Mom probably thought since I…

    Posted to: ‘I Could Have Been A ...’ by Bigsis on 11/17/2023

  • I can absolutely see you wallowing in that chair, the color is so warm and…

    Posted to: ‘The Waller [sic] Around Chair’ by Sandy on 10/03/2023

Comment Leaders

  • Lynne - (1554)
  • Carolyn Clarke - (377)
  • Steve - (351)
  • Susan Weyler - (318)
  • Joyce Roberts - (261)
  • Reya Mellicker - (247)
  • Debra - (230)
  • lettuce - (206)
  • Susan in WA - (205)
  • Jan - (185)

On This Day...

  • Nothing today

Archives

Statistics

  • Page Views: 2060903
  • Page rendered in 0.2521 seconds
  • Total Entries: 2602
  • Total Comments: 6608
  • Most Recent Entry: 11/17/2023 11:01 am
  • Most Recent Comment on: 11/17/2023 04:04 pm
  • Most Recent Visitor on: 03/28/2024 03:55 am
  • Most visitors ever: 373 on 03/13/2020 06:45 am