Texts, aphorisms and plant curiosities
Shhh! Let us tell you a secret: the mountains and their plants have always been the subjects of tall tales and legends. Here are a couple of them. They seem fantastic, but that doesn’t mean they are any less real. Every story has some truth in it: something that has to do with the life of those who made them up. These stories, for example, tell of an ancient rapport between men and plants, and of how we learned to use them; to eat, to heal and to smell a good deal better.
The legend of the Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)
The legend of the Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)
We don’t know their names, but the legend tells of a young couple, very much in love. The husband would go up into the mountains to collect herbs and hunt marmots. But not everyone who climbs up the mountains returns. And that’s what happened to this young man. Worried, his wife went looking for him, and found him jammed between two sheets of ice, no longer among the living. She could not get close enough for a last caress. So she stood on an overhang and cried as she looked at him: her tears were so copious that they soaked her eyebrows and hair. When the sun went down and later the moon and stars gave way to the dawn, she was covered in frost, so thick it looked like a silvery fur. She didn’t want to return to her life as it had been before, so she prayed to God, asking to be allowed to stay there forever, near her true love. And her prayers were answered: she was turned into that lovely flower we call the edelweiss. The legend implies that the edelweiss is a rare plant, which grows on the rocks in inaccessible places. Actually, it is found in the alpine pastures as well, above the tree line. And wherever it is found, there it must remain: it is illegal to pluck it, because the species is at risk of extinction.
The Gentians
Many species in the gentian family find a home in the alpine meadows and pastures. Their flowers are quite lovely and flaunt many different hues, but it’s their medicinal powers that make these plants so precious. Gentiana lutea, commonly known as the yellow gentian, is indisputably one of the best herbal remedies for digestive problems and fever. The bitter substances in gentian stimulate and balance the secretion of gastric juices and bile, which when lacking causes malaise, somnolence, headache and intestinal fermentation. It is useful in assimilating food, supporting convalescents, anemics and the weak in general. A concentrated decoction or a diluted tincture can help balance oily skin. Gentiana acaulis(Koch’s gentian) has similar properties, but blander, and is used in the production of tonic and digestive aquavits, fernet, bitters and aperitifs. Its electric blue blooms grace the pastures in early summer.
There are also other species of gentian, but they are less common, like Gentiana puntata and Gentiana purpurea. Although they are not threatened, gentians should also be treated with respect: admire them in their natural habitat and resist the urge to gather them and take a bunch home with you: they will quickly wilt.
