Symbolism of plants: examples from European-Mediterranean culture presented with biology and history of art: AUGUST: Bittersweet, woody nightshade.

摘要

In late summer fewer wild plants are flowering in temperate latitudes. For this month we chose a much less conspicuous plant, bittersweet, a vine with small, but conspicuous violet and yellow flowers. The reasons for its symbolic value are less apparent than for others of these monthly presentations, and lie in its arsenal of secondary metabolites as much as its appearance. With bittersweet, the authors want to remind readers of the value of inconspicuous objects and those for which value is more than skin-deep.