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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
217
Then
again,
according
to
a
Swedish
legend,
the
dwarf
birch
tree
afforded
the
rod
with
which
Christ
was
scourged,
which
accounts
for
its
stunted
appearance;
while
another
legend
tells
us
it
was
the
willow
with
its
drooping
branches.
Rubens,
together
with
the
earlier
Italian
painters,
depict
the
reed-mace
[17]
or
bulrush
(Typha
latifolia)
as
the
rod
given
to
Him
to
carry;
a
plant
still
put
by
Catholics
into
the
hands
of
statues
of
Christ.
But
in
Poland,
where
the
plant
is
difficult
to
procure,
"the
flower-stalk
of
the
leek
is
substituted."
The
mournful
tree
which
formed
the
wood
of
the
cross
has
always
been
a
disputed
question,
and
given
rise
to
a
host
of
curious
legends.
According
to
Sir
John
Maundeville,
it
was
composed
of
cedar,
cypress,
palm,
and
olive,
while
some
have
instituted
in
the
place
of
the
two
latter
the
pine
and
the
box;
the
notion
being
that
those
four
woods
represented
the
four
quarters
of
the
globe.
Foremost
amongst
the
other
trees
to
which
this
distinction
has
been
assigned,
are
the
aspen,
poplar,
oak,
elder,
and
mistletoe.
Hence
is
explained
the
gloomy
shivering
of
the
aspen
leaf,
the
trembling
of
the
poplar,
and
the
popular
antipathy
to
utilising
elder
twigs
for
fagots.
But
it
is
probable
that
the
respect
paid
to
the
elder
"has
its
roots
in
the
old
heathenism
of
the
north,"
and
to
this
day,
in
Denmark,
it
is
said
to
be
protected
by
"a
being
called
the
elder-mother,"
so
that
it
is
not
safe
to
damage
it
in
any
way.
[18]
The
mistletoe,
which
exists
now
as
a
mere
parasite,
was
before
the
crucifixion
a
fine
forest
tree;
its
present
condition
being
a
lasting
monument
of
the
disgrace
it
incurred
through
its
ignominious
use.
[19]
A
further
legend
informs
us
that
when
the
Jews
were
in
search
of
wood
for
the
cross,
every
tree,
with
the
exception
of
the
oak,
split
itself
to
avoid
being
desecrated.
On
this
account,
Grecian
woodcutters
avoid
the
oak,
regarding
it
as
an
accursed
tree.
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