Hello everyone! I am new to the forum and probably won't be around for long since my interest in all things gardening is fairly limited. I have, however, a query for you. I am a translator and in the course of translating a poem (into English) that has a great deal to do with natural environment, and therefore plants. The name of the plant of concern to me is Cytisus scoparius (or common broom) of the Fabaceae family, a perennial yellow shrub native to central Europe (allegedly sea-proximate -- according to my grandma). The original poem is in Polish and the name of the plant therein is "Żarnowiec," which carries a completely different connotation than "broom" (Żarnowiec - from "żarzyć" - v. to glow, as wood or coal in a fireplace). My problem is therefore the implicated meaning of the plant's name itself -- the Polish name conveying the sense of fire-like yellow and the English one conveying... well, an implement for wiping floors. So with all that in mind, can you think of any other yellow, spring-bloom shrubs, whose names would lend themselves better to the poem than the appalling broom? I don't expect there to be any with any sort of relation to fire or glowing, but anything at all might just do. Thanks and I hope this kind of enquiry is within the forum's parameters :) Hikee [edit] I'll post if I find anything on my own for verification. If that's OK, that is.
Hmm. Cytisus scoparius has along, storied and indeed poetic history: In Ireland, it was called the "physician's power". In France, the "Badge of Brittany". "Planta Genista" was it's medieval name, a shrub sacred to the Druids, and a symbol of the Plantagenet Royal dynasty, "Plantagenet" deriving from "Planta Genista". Indeed, on the tomb of Richard II at Westminster Abbey, there is a depiction of a broom plant with spent seed pods hanging open: a fitting allegory for the death of a Plantagenet king. The bodyguard of St. Louis of France, in 1234, wore an image of a broom flower on their coats with the motto "exaltat humiles" ('he exalteth the lowly'). The Scottish clan Forbes wore broom sprigs in their hats as a means of inciting their chieftans to heroic acts: in their language it was 'bealadh' (beautiful). Here on the west coast of B.C., the Dididaht people (for whom the broom is a relatively new part of local nature) call is cicikinaxs (chee-chee-keen-axis), or "chickens on the bushes". None of this redeems the broom from it's lowly associations in recent English, but might highlight some of its' more redeeming features of it's linguistic history, and highlight a few more possibilities, poetically speaking.
Wow, thanks. I didn't realize the broom had such an extensive history. I remain unconvinced though. In the poem I'm translating, the broom is only used to convey an image, hills "glowing" of fiery yellow sunlight. I do not suppose the Polish author meant any of what you wrote above. But it's something worth considering, at least. I would still appreciate suggestions as to other plants.
Other plants suggestions are difficult without more clarification. It would seem that not any yellow spring-flowering shrub will do: If the poem is referring to a (Central or Eastern?) European landscape, suggestions would need to be regionally established plants, which are ecologically suited to carpeting entire hillsides, no? There is gorse: itself a harsh sounding word, but most species are likely to grow as described. Also called (according to species) "furze" or "whin", which might be getting closer, poetically speaking.
I suspect the "lowly associations" of Common Broom in (some) recent English has a lot to do with it being disliked as an invasive alien species in North America and Australia; in Britain, it doesn't have any negative associations, but is welcomed as an attractive native plant valued for its flowers. Its native distribution is indeed coastal in Poland and elsewhere in northeastern Europe, as it cannot tolerate the severe cold of winters further inland; but in Britain, and elsewhere in western Europe where winters are mild, it is also common inland. The only difficulty with your prescriptions is that Broom flowers are light yellow, not exactly 'fiery', though orange-flowered garden cultivars (e.g. 'Andreanus') are available.
