Thank you for any help you can provide! I would love to identify the plant described in the following novel - if it is a real plant - and to know anything about the lore that might attach to the plant and its flower.

The novel _The Graveyard Book_, by Neil Gaiman, is set in a graveyard in an unidentified town in England. In a chapter entitled "Danse Macabre", the residents of the graveyard and of The Old Town engage in "a local tradition" that is triggered by the flowers blossoming in winter for the first time in eighty years. The Lady Mayoress is assisted in cutting enough flowers to fill four baskets, and she and others distribute the flowers to all residents of the Old Town, pinning each flower to the lapel of a passer-by.

More clues:
Neil Gaiman is very interested in Norse and Celtic mythology, and he uses themes, characters and incidents from those traditions throughout his books.

Gaiman's version of The Danse Macabre follows the distribution of the flowers. He seems to base it on the Camille Saint-Saëns version which is apparently based on an old French superstition: According to the superstition, "Death" appears at midnight every year on Halloween. Death has the power to call forth the dead from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle. His skeletons dance for him until the first break of dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year.

I'm not an expert on the Celtic calendar, but it may be that the "local tradition" in the book combines Yule and Halloween (Samhain) elements.

The narrator mentions that the Danse Macabre is taking place in midwinter, and snow begins to fall the following day.


Here are the relevant passages from the book:
There was a strange scent in the air, sharp and floral. Bod followed it up the hill to the Egyptian Walk, where the winter ivy hung in green tumbles, an evergreen tangle . . .
The perfume was heaviest there, and for a moment Bod wondered if snow might have fallen, for there were white clusters on the greenery. Bod examined a cluster more closely. It was made of small five-petaled flowers, and he had just put his head in to sniff the perfume when he heard footsteps coming up the path. . .
[The lady mayoress] began to cut the clumps of blossoms, and she and the three men started to fill the baskets with flowers. . .
"It's not surprising that the previous Lord Mayor did not know about this tradition," said the chubby man, whose basket was almost full. "It's the first time the winter blossoms have bloomed in eighty years."
.
.
.
"It was a tradition in the Old Town," said the man, "before the city grew up around it. When the winter flowers bloom in the graveyard on the hill, they are cut and given out to everybody, man or woman, young or old, rich or poor."


I thought the plant might be a Christmas Rose or Lenten Rose, but those bloom more often than every eighty years. Since the narrator refers to "winter ivy," I thought that might be the answer, but I couldn't picture someone without a ladder cutting enough ivy blossoms to fill four baskets, or making boutineers of the blossoms. Websites also indicated that the smell of ivy blossoms would not be a "perfume".

I hope you can help me to solve this mystery!

On Sun, 22 Nov 2009, shack wrote

Thank you for any help you can provide! I would love to identify the
plant described in the following novel - if it is a real plant - and to
know anything about the lore that might attach to the plant and its
flower.

snip

"It's the first time the winter blossoms have bloomed in eighty
years."

I have to say (although I'm rather fond of Neil Gaiman's books, so no
slur intended) that the first thing that came into my head was the
Sukebind.

--
Kate B

PS 'elvira' is spamtrapped - please reply to 'elviraspam' at cockaigne dot org dot uk if you
want to reply personally

shack wrote:
Thank you for any help you can provide! I would love to identify the
plant described in the following novel - if it is a real plant - and to
know anything about the lore that might attach to the plant and its
flower.

The novel _The Graveyard Book_, by Neil Gaiman, is set in a graveyard
in an unidentified town in England. In a chapter entitled "Danse
Macabre", the residents of the graveyard and of The Old Town engage in
"a local tradition" that is triggered by the flowers blossoming in
winter for the first time in eighty years. The Lady Mayoress is
assisted in cutting enough flowers to fill four baskets, and she and
others distribute the flowers to all residents of the Old Town, pinning
each flower to the lapel of a passer-by.

More clues:
Neil Gaiman is very interested in Norse and Celtic mythology, and he
uses themes, characters and incidents from those traditions throughout
his books.

Gaiman's version of The Danse Macabre follows the distribution of the
flowers. He seems to base it on the Camille Saint-Saëns version which
is apparently based on an old French superstition: According to the
superstition, "Death" appears at midnight every year on Halloween.
Death has the power to call forth the dead from their graves to dance
for him while he plays his fiddle. His skeletons dance for him until
the first break of dawn, when they must return to their graves until
the next year.

I'm not an expert on the Celtic calendar, but it may be that the "local
tradition" in the book combines Yule and Halloween (Samhain) elements.


The narrator mentions that the Danse Macabre is taking place in
midwinter, and snow begins to fall the following day.


Here are the relevant passages from the book:
There was a strange scent in the air, sharp and floral. Bod followed
it up the hill to the Egyptian Walk, where the winter ivy hung in green
tumbles, an evergreen tangle . . .
The perfume was heaviest there, and for a moment Bod wondered if snow
might have fallen, for there were white clusters on the greenery. Bod
examined a cluster more closely. It was made of small five-petaled
flowers, and he had just put his head in to sniff the perfume when he
heard footsteps coming up the path. . .
[The lady mayoress] began to cut the clumps of blossoms, and she and
the three men started to fill the baskets with flowers. . .
"It's not surprising that the previous Lord Mayor did not know about
this tradition," said the chubby man, whose basket was almost full.
"It's the first time the winter blossoms have bloomed in eighty
years."

It all sounds very fictitious.

Firstly, Halloween (31 October) is hardly Midwinter, which is 21 - 22
December. What might bloom on 31 October would be very different from what
might bloom on 21 December. If there was a prolonged Indian Summer in
October, then it is possible it might still be fairly warm on 31 October.
That would not be the case for 21 December.

I suppose that one might also like to consider what plant would survive if
it bloomed only once every 80 years or so. There are many that take years
to start blooming (eg some Magnolias), but once they start are pretty
regular. There are some exotic plants such as agaves which take many years
to flower (but most certainly not the "Century Plant" titles they have been
given, more like 15 - 30 years at most), and then die. It also appears that
the plant grows with the ivy. It is therefore probably a shrub or small
tree. It would appear to be a plant which flowers only in winter, rather
than one which is flowering out of season, as it is called a "winter
blossom".

Still, if you needed a candidate, then I would put my money on Viburnum
tinus. But as to flowering only after 80 years, well, I'd ask the garden
centre for my money back, or a better cultivar!

--
Jeff

Hi Shack, only a wild guess but given the 'winter ivy', scented white winter
flower angle, the plant that immediately sprang to my mind was Clematis armandii, it fits the bill but it flowers every year! has 6 petalled flowers (I think) not five and originates from China/Myanmar/Vietnam. Just a thought?
Best Wishes from mysterious celtic Cornwall.

"shack" wrote in message
...

Thank you for any help you can provide! I would love to identify the
plant described in the following novel - if it is a real plant - and to
know anything about the lore that might attach to the plant and its
flower.

The novel _The Graveyard Book_, by Neil Gaiman, is set in a graveyard
in an unidentified town in England. In a chapter entitled "Danse
Macabre", the residents of the graveyard and of The Old Town engage in
"a local tradition" that is triggered by the flowers blossoming in
winter for the first time in eighty years. The Lady Mayoress is
assisted in cutting enough flowers to fill four baskets, and she and
others distribute the flowers to all residents of the Old Town, pinning
each flower to the lapel of a passer-by.

More clues:
Neil Gaiman is very interested in Norse and Celtic mythology, and he
uses themes, characters and incidents from those traditions throughout
his books.

Gaiman's version of The Danse Macabre follows the distribution of the
flowers. He seems to base it on the Camille Saint-Saëns version which
is apparently based on an old French superstition: According to the
superstition, "Death" appears at midnight every year on Halloween.
Death has the power to call forth the dead from their graves to dance
for him while he plays his fiddle. His skeletons dance for him until
the first break of dawn, when they must return to their graves until
the next year.

I'm not an expert on the Celtic calendar, but it may be that the "local
tradition" in the book combines Yule and Halloween (Samhain) elements.


The narrator mentions that the Danse Macabre is taking place in
midwinter, and snow begins to fall the following day.


Here are the relevant passages from the book:
There was a strange scent in the air, sharp and floral. Bod followed
it up the hill to the Egyptian Walk, where the winter ivy hung in green
tumbles, an evergreen tangle . . .
The perfume was heaviest there, and for a moment Bod wondered if snow
might have fallen, for there were white clusters on the greenery. Bod
examined a cluster more closely. It was made of small five-petaled
flowers, and he had just put his head in to sniff the perfume when he
heard footsteps coming up the path. . .
[The lady mayoress] began to cut the clumps of blossoms, and she and
the three men started to fill the baskets with flowers. . .
"It's not surprising that the previous Lord Mayor did not know about
this tradition," said the chubby man, whose basket was almost full.
"It's the first time the winter blossoms have bloomed in eighty
years."



I strongly suspect that the plant is Mistletoe (Viscum album) which, though
it is not perceived by us as a flower, *is* referred to as a flower in a
variety of references. It would appear at the right time of year, growing
with ivy in the branches of trees. It has strong pagan and ancient
folklore-ish associations as a powerful medicine to aid virility and cure
tumours. It would almost certainly have been perceived - and used - as a
herb to drive away evil spirits. People have always collected it and
revered it. It is, to this day, used in european medicine, and I have
certainly seen it as an ingredient in scented candles and other aromatherapy
products. It can also be shy to 'flower'.

The fact that Gaiman refers to it as a 5-petalled flower may simply be an
indication of his ignorance of the detail of mistletoe. It *does* have a
greenish insignicant flower but, because it has often been likened to snow
(in fiction as well as more learned writings), he may have felt the creative
need to embellish his description. His work is fiction, after all!

Spider

On Nov 22, 1:22*am, shack wrote:
Thank you for any help you can provide! *I would love to identify the
plant described in the following novel - if it is a real plant - and to
know anything about the lore that might attach to the plant and its
flower.

The novel _The Graveyard Book_, by Neil Gaiman, is set in a graveyard
in an unidentified town in England. *In a chapter entitled "Danse
Macabre", the residents of the graveyard and of The Old Town engage in
"a local tradition" that is triggered by the flowers blossoming in
winter for the first time in eighty years. *The Lady Mayoress is
assisted in cutting enough flowers to fill four baskets, and she and
others distribute the flowers to all residents of the Old Town, pinning
each flower to the lapel of a passer-by.

More clues:
Neil Gaiman is very interested in Norse and Celtic mythology, and he
uses themes, characters and incidents from those traditions throughout
his books.

Gaiman's version of The Danse Macabre follows the distribution of the
flowers. *He seems to base it on the Camille Saint-Saëns version which
is apparently based on an old French superstition: According to the
superstition, "Death" appears at midnight every year on Halloween.
Death has the power to call forth the dead from their graves to dance
for him while he plays his fiddle. His skeletons dance for him until
the first break of dawn, when they must return to their graves until
the next year. *

I'm not an expert on the Celtic calendar, but it may be that the "local
tradition" in the book combines Yule and Halloween (Samhain) elements.

The narrator mentions that the Danse Macabre is taking place in
midwinter, and snow begins to fall the following day.

Here are the relevant passages from the book:
There was a strange scent in the air, sharp and floral. *Bod followed
it up the hill to the Egyptian Walk, where the winter ivy hung in green
tumbles, an evergreen tangle . . .
The perfume was heaviest there, and for a moment Bod wondered if snow
might have fallen, for there were white clusters on the greenery. Bod
examined a cluster more closely. It was made of small five-petaled
flowers, and he had just put his head in to sniff the perfume when he
heard footsteps coming up the path. . .
[The lady mayoress] began to cut the clumps of blossoms, and she and
the three men started to fill the baskets with flowers. . .
"It's not surprising that the previous Lord Mayor did not know about
this tradition," said the chubby man, whose basket was almost full.
"It's the first time the winter blossoms have bloomed in eighty
years."

Hmm, well each flower within the umbels of ivy is 5 petalled. Albeit
greenish yellow, can, in the right light and with the help of the
right reflective sheen from its leaf, appear to be more white.
Though flowering in late autumn, I've seen a few that did not really
get into the swing of it till much later and in this instance, the 8O
year gap might have related to a particularly sunny winter, suggesting
the plant, which only really flowers on the sunny exposed shoots,
might ordinarily not have had that chance.
As for the smell, perhaps "pong" would be more appropriate.

Thank you very much for these very good suggestions. Based on some initial googling, I believe that a combination of these tips may solve the mystery.

lannerman and Jeff: the Clematis armandii and the Viburnum tinus both look like what I imagined as I read this chapter.

Janet: I believe the Hawthorn story may offer the best clue yet! I had left out a detail of the story - as the main character accepts a flower, he is inadvertantly jabbed by a pin attached to the flower. Because it was a pin, not a thorn, that caused the injury, I didn't think this was important to the botanical mystery, but it may be Gaiman's updated hint that the plant is (symbolically, at least) a thorn. Acting on your suggestion, I also came upon this interesting article, "The Holy Thorn Ceremony: revival, rivalry and civil religion in Glastonbury," by Marion Bowman.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n16676590/
After reading only one page, I can see that it matches many of the details of Gaiman's fictional "local tradition" and probably served as an inspiration for the Danse Macabre chapter.

Thank you all SO much! I am so grateful for your excellent input.
- Sara Hathaway
(now in the Berkshires in New England, but only thirteen generations removed from the Forest of Dean)

Jeff Layman wrote:


Still, if you needed a candidate, then I would put my money on Viburnum
tinus. But as to flowering only after 80 years, well, I'd ask the garden
centre for my money back, or a better cultivar!

Viburnum tinus isn't highly scented. Winter viburnum is, but the blooms
are pink. Mine flowers all year round...

--
Rusty

Rusty Hinge writes
Jeff Layman wrote:

Still, if you needed a candidate, then I would put my money on
Viburnum tinus. But as to flowering only after 80 years, well, I'd
ask the garden centre for my money back, or a better cultivar!

Viburnum tinus isn't highly scented. Winter viburnum is, but the blooms
are pink. Mine flowers all year round...

Do you mean V bodnantense? I thought there was a pink flowered one and a
white (or at least less pink) one?

--
Kay

K wrote:
Rusty Hinge writes
Jeff Layman wrote:

Still, if you needed a candidate, then I would put my money on
Viburnum tinus. But as to flowering only after 80 years, well, I'd
ask the garden centre for my money back, or a better cultivar!

Viburnum tinus isn't highly scented. Winter viburnum is, but the
blooms are pink. Mine flowers all year round...

Do you mean V bodnantense? I thought there was a pink flowered one and a
white (or at least less pink) one?

Dunno - it grew in the parents' garden, and there's one in mine.

But I can't see it waiting (how many?) years to burst into bloom.

--
Rusty