Identification of the Rose, Sage, Iris, and Lily in the "Blue Bird Fresco" from Knossos, Crete (ca.

1450 B.C.E.)
Author(s): Arthur O. Tucker
Source: Economic Botany, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Winter, 2004), pp. 733-736
Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press
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2004]
zolitto, and C. Benattin. 2000. Antibacterial activity
of the copaiba oil associated to the Ca(OH)2 and
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(24) Verpoorte, R., and P. P Dahl. 1987. Medicinal
plants of Surinam IV. Antimicrobial activity of
some medicinal plants. Journal of Ethnopharma-
cology 21:315-318. (25) Desmarchelier, C., J.
Coussio, and G. Ciccia. 1997. Extracts of Bolivian
plants, Copaifera reticulata and Heisteria pallida
inhibit in vitro free radical-mediated DNA damage.
Phytotherapy Research 11:460-462. (26) Basile,
A. C., J. A. A. Sertie, P C. D. Freitas, and A. C.
Zanini. 1988. Anti-inflammatory activity of oleo-
resin from Brazilian Copaifera. Journal of Ethno-
pharmacology 22:101-109. (27) Plowden, C.
(2003). Production ecology of copaiba (Copaifera
spp.) oleoresin in the eastern Brazilian Amazon.
Economic Botany 57:491-501. (28) Maciel, M. A.
M., A. C. Pinto, and V. F Veiga Jr. 2002. Plantas
medicinais: A necessidade de estudos multidisci-
plinares. Quimica Nova 25:429-438. (29) van der
Werf, I. D., J. van den Berg, S. Schmitt, and J. J.
Boon. 2002. Molecular characterization of copaiba
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(30) Leung, A. L. 1980. Encyclopedia of common
natural ingredients used in food, drugs and cos-
metics. John Wiley and Sons, New York. (31) Arc-
tander, S. 1960. Perfume and flavor materials of
natural origin. Elizabeth, NJ. (32) Calvin, M. 1983.
New sources for fuel and materials. Science 219:
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usuales de Venezuela. Editorial Elite (1939 com-
pendium), Caracas. (34) Leite, A., A. Alechandre,
C. Rigamonte-Azevedo, C. A. Campos, and A.
Oliveira. 2001. Recomendaq6es para o manejo sus-
tentavel do oleo de copaiba. Universidade Federal
do Acre and Secretaria Executiva de Floresta e Ex-
trativismo (SEFE), Rio Branco. (35) Dodt. 1939.
Descripqao dos Rios Parnahyba e Gurupy. Brasili-
ana, Sao Paulo cited in Sales, N. P D. 1994. Os
Tembe no Alto Rio Guama: Reelaboraq6es etni-
cas-identidade e territ6rio. UNAMA-Universi-
dade da Amazonia, Bel6m. (36) SEBRAE. 1995.
Copai'ba: Opq6es de investimento no Acre com
produtos florestais nao madeireiros. Part of series
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Apoio as Micro e Pequenas Empresas do Acre (SE-
BRAE), Rio Branco. (37) Alencar, J. C. 1982. Es-
tudos silviculturais de uma populaqao natural de
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Amaz6nia Central. 2. Produ?ao de 6leo-resina.
Acta Amazonica 12:75-89. (38) Ferreira, L. A.,
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extra,cao commercial do oleo-resina de copaiba.
The New York Botanical Garden, New York and
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NOTES 733
(39) Spruce, R. 1970. Notes of a botanist on the
Amazon and Andes. Volume 1. Johnson Reprint
Corp., New York. (40) Martini,A. M. Z., N. A.
Rosa, and C. Uhl. 1994. An attemptto predictAm-
azoniantree species potentiallythreatenedby log-
ging activities. EnvironmentalConservation 21:
152-162 and unpublishedappendices.
-Campbell Plowden, Forest Resources Coop-
erative Extension, 7 Ferguson Building, Penn
State University, University Park, PA 16802,
USA, e-mail Campbellplowden@psualum.com.
Identification of the rose, sage, iris, and lily
in the "Blue Bird Fresco" from Knossos,
Crete (ca. 1450 B.C.E.).-Identification of pre-
Linnaean illustrations is vexing, particularly so
when their original purposes were not botanical
but rather magico-religious, pharmacological, or
decorative. At best, only tentative identifications
can be offered, but we must still choose the best
possible species from the best available evi-
dence.
The excavations on Crete at the Palace of Mi-
nos at Knossos by Sir Arthur Evans have in-
trigued us since his publication in 1928 of Vol-
ume II, Part II of The Palace of Minos, a work
that included most of the frescoes at the restored
West Palace Section. Evans hired a father and
son team of artists from Switzerland, Emile Gil-
lieron, pere and fils, to aid in the restoration.
Particularly interesting is the so-called "Blue
Bird Fresco" from the "House of Frescoes,"
which was restored by Emile Gillieron, fils. This
fresco includes a bird, a rose, an iris, a lily, and
another plant. Evans identified the bird as the
"roller (Coracias garrulous)," the lily as the
"pancratium lily," and the iris as the "Dwarf
Cretan iris." The rose was not identified, and the
remaining plant was identified as "wild peas or
vetches" (1).
Early commentaries on the Blue Bird Fresco
were from the watercolor by Emile Gillieron, fils
(1, 2). Various identifications of the rose have
been offered since 1928: Rosa canina L. or R.
dumetorum Thuill. [R. corymbifera Borkh.] (3),
R. sancta Rich. [R. Xrichardii Rehd.] (4), R.
foetida Herrm. (5), R. gallica L. (6), a "dama-
scene" rose (7), R. gallica x R. phoenicia Boiss.
(8), R. persica Michx. (9), or R. canina (10).
Today, we know that, while the character of
Sir Arthur Evans was above reproach, Emile
Gillieron, pere or fils, were enablers, if not ac-
734 ECONOMICBOTANY
tual manufacturers, of forgeries originating from
Crete. Which one of the father and son team was
actually involved and the depth of his involve-
ment is open to speculation. The suspected forg-
eries lack the artistry of the materials with
known provenance. For example, the limbs on
the carved human figures show musculature,
while the suspected forgeries are round as dow-
els (11). Mark Cameron (12) has also expressed
reservations about the accuracy of the restora-
tions by Emile Gillieron fils. Thus, we should
not put too much trust in the restorations by
these 20th century artists but, instead, interpret
directly from the few surviving fragments of the
original fresco.
When we look at the original Blue Bird Fres-
co and separate the original from the restored
areas (e.g., 13), we find that the one original
rose, in the lower left-hand portion, is painted
slightly twisted to profile, with five overlapping
petals that are now a faded pale pink and slightly
yellowed with age. In contrast, the restoration of
Emile Gillieron fils has flat, six-petaled, medium
yellow-pink roses that lack the delicate render-
ing of the original. In trying to identify a rose
that matches this fresco today, we must also look
for a rose that at least historically has been
found in central Crete, has three leaflets with
prominent veins, grows on rocks, and has a ma-
ture height under about 1 m. None of the roses
previously identified above meets these criteria!
The only possible rose that meets these criteria
is R. pulverulenta M. Bieb. This rose is listed as
growing on calcareous rocky places, primarily
in western Crete, but also is recorded in the cen-
tral part of the island (14). Some botanists have
considered R. pulverulenta of 1808 conspecific
with R. glutinosa Sibth. & Sm., published in
1809 (9, 15), but the former would have nomen-
clatural priority. Both R. pulverulenta and R.
glutinosa have 3-7 rugose leaflets with scented,
glandular vegetation and fruits; they grow 0.3-
0.7 m. (9), and rather consistently have three
leaflets in the leaves on the terminal flowering
and fruiting shoots. These roses mimic dwarfish
versions of the European eglantine rose (R.
eglanteria L. or R. rubiginosa L.) with pine-
scented foliage, which suggests that it may have
presented interest beyond the flowers. Dioscor-
ides (40-90 C.E.) remarked on roses in general
in Greek medicine (16):
Rodon [roses] are cool and astringent,and dried
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[VOL. 58
roses are more astringent.Thejuice mustbe pressed
out of them whilst they are still young, firstcutting
off that which is called the nail (which is the white
that is in the petal), and the rest must be pounded
and pounded in the shade in a mortaruntil it be-
comes thick, and then put in jars for eye salves or
suppositories.The leaves are also driedin the shade.
They must be turnedover now and then least oth-
erwise they putrefy or grow mouldy. Dried roses
(boiled in wine and strained)are good for head-
aches, as well as the eyes, ears and gums, and pain
of the perineum,intestine, rectum and vulva, ap-
plied with a featheror washed with the liquid.The
same (without straining) bruised, boiled and ap-
plied, are good for inflammationof the area below
the ribs, moistnessof the stomachand erysipelas[a
streptococcal skin infection]. Roses (dried and
pounded into small pieces) are sprinkled on the
thighs.They areput in compositionscalledantherae
[medicines extractedfrom flowers] and in wound
antidotes. They are burnt for medicines to make
eyelids look pleasing. The partof the flowerthat is
foundin the middleof the roses (driedandsprinkled
on) is good for gum discharges.The heads [hips]
(taken in a drink) stop loose intestines and blood-
spitting.
The unidentified plant on the Blue Bird Fresco
identified by Sir Arthur Evans as "wild peas or
vetches" (1) or by Mark Cameron (12) as "sage/
vetch" also occurs on a Minoan stirrup jar (LM
I B, Chania. 1977. Kastelli hill-Greek Swedish
Excavations. LM 1 House I-Room M. Above
floor. Exc. No. 36). The latter was identified by
Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki as "reed plants"
(17). Both of these are most probably Salvia fru-
ticosa Mill. (S. triloba L.f.), which occurs in
"Clearings in Pinus brutia woodland, olive
groves, scrub, garigue" and is widespread on
Crete (14). Theophrastus (372/369-288/285
B.C.E.) also mentioned this sage: "The differ-
ence between $IXXKOS [sphakos, Salvia pomifera
L.] and EXEXLU4OXKos [elelisphakos, Salvia fru-
ticosa] is like that between cultivated and wild;
for the leaf I4aKOS iS smoother, smaller and less
succulent, while that of EXEXLUcxKoS is rough-
er" (18). Dioscorides (16) remarks on eXefTu-
(QOKOS, which, from the description, is obviously
S. fruticosa, not S. officinalis L., as often sur-
mised (N.B. Dioscorides recommends the use of
S. fruticosa with rosaceum, a compounded oil of
roses):
Helelisphacum is a much-branchedsomewhat
long shrub, with four-squareand somewhat white
stalks. The leaves are similar to malicottoon,yet
20041 NOTES
longer, sharperand thicker,hidden by filaments-
whitish, especially odoriferous and poisonous-
smelling-like on outworngarments.The seed is on
top of the stalks like wild horminum.It grows in
roughplaces. A dedoctionof the leaves andbranch-
es (takenas a drink)is able to induce movementof
the urine and the menstrualflow, is a abortifacient,
and helps the strikes of the pastinaca marina. It
dyes the hair black, is a wound herb and blood-
stauncher,and cleanses wild ulcers. A dedoctionof
the leaves and branches(with wine) applied with
hot cloths soothes itchinessaroundthe genitals.Ele-
lisphacon dissolves chilliness and coughs and is
good used with rosaceumand wax ointmentfor all
bad ulcers. Takenas drinkwith white wine it cures
a painful spleen and dysentery.Similarly,given to
drinkit cures bloodspitters,and is availablefor all
cleansingfor a woman,but the most wicked women
(making a pessary of it) apply it and use it as an
abortifacient.It is also called elaphoboscon,sphag-
non, ciosmin, phagnon, or becion; the Egyptians
called it apusi, the Romans,cosalon, andotherssal-
via.
Today, S. fruticosa is called "Dalmatian
sage" and constitutes most of the imported dried
sage in the United States, not S. officinalis,
which is contrary to popular myth (19). Niebuhr
(20) remarks of S. fruticosa: "The tea is called
'Faksomilo' by the Greek people and may be
bought in taverns. It is said to purify the blood
and give one a feeling of well being. The flowers
are good honey producers." On Crete, 1973-
1976, S. fruticosa was "very widely sold &
drunk as a refreshing tea & a pleasant beverage,
especially a breakfast tea. Sold by Kafedjis each
morning at Aghios Nikolaos General Hospital.
Purifies the blood & gives general well-being
(Popi Gallon.). For one cup of tea, a shoot 6-8"
long is plenty. A. Kafencion gets its supply from
people who make a business of gathering & sell-
ing.-Costus Pangalos, Kafedzi at Kritea. Too
much Phaskomelo for those with great age pro-
duces excessive blood pressure and severe diz-
ziness (illing'a). Stelios Anastasakis, Herb Shop
in Aghios Nikolaos, 3rd April 1976. When you
cannot pass your urine, drink an ordinary cup of
sage tea and it will pass easily, Iwxovv-qsMcxy-
yovxO6's, 20 Aug. '76, in Ag. Nikolaos Hos-
pital" (21).
Of the remaining plants on the Blue Bird
Fresco, the "Dwarf Cretan iris" is probably Iris
unguicularis Poir. subsp. cretensis (Janka) A. P.
Davis & Jury. This is widespread today on Crete
in "open woodland & scrub, phrygana, cliffs,
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735
banks & rocky places," which is not too dissim-
ilar a habitat from that of R. pulverulenta and S.
fruticosa (14). The "pancratium lily" in the wa-
tercolor by Emile Gillieron fils (1) is obviously
Pancratium maritimum L., the sea-daffodil,
which today is found sporadically on maritime
sands in Crete (14). Oddly, the sea-daffodil is
missing from the final restoration, but since it
grows in a different habitat from the rose, sage,
and iris, it would appear to be ecologically in-
congruent anyway. The sea-daffodil is also
found on frescoes at Thera and a bronze My-
cenae sword ca. 1560 B.C.E., wherein the flow-
ers are pressed flat but missing the outer seg-
ments (22, 23). The sea-daffodil is not a poor
representation of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.),
as sometimes maintained (24, 25), or an imagi-
nary plant altogether (26).
LiteratureCited. (1) Evans, A. 1928. The palace of
Minos. Vol. 2, part2. Macmillanand Co., London.
(2) Bunyard,E. A. 1937. The earliest illustration
of the rose in Europe.Rose Annual 1937:160-161.
(3) Mbbius,M. 1933. Pflanzenbilderder minoisch-
en Kunst in botanischerBetrachtung.Jahresbuch
der Kaiserlich Deutschen ArchaolischenInstituts
47:1-39. (4) Hurst,C. C. 1941. Notes on the origin
and evolution of our gardenroses. Journalof the
Royal HorticulturalSociety 66:73-82, 242-250,
282-289. (5) Hutchinson,R. W. 1962. Prehistoric
Crete. Penguin Books, Baltimore. (6) Hurst, R.
1967. The Minoan roses. Rose Annual 1967:59-
65. (7) Gorer,R. 1970. The developmentof garden
flowers. Eyre & Spottiswoode,London. (8) Grim-
shaw, J. 2002. The gardener'satlas. FireflyBooks,
London. (9) Kruissmann,G. 1981. The complete
book of roses. Timber Press, Portland,OR. (10)
Cameron,M. 1993. Page 14 in R. Phillips and M.
Rix, The quest for the rose. RandomHouse, New
York.(11) Lapatin,K. 2002. Mysteriesof the snake
goddess. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. (12)
Everly, D. 1999. Fresco: A passportinto the past.
BritishSchool Athens,Athens.(13) Di Neuhoff, S.
n.d. The Minoancivilizationand the Knossos Pal-
ace. Apollo Ed., Athens. (14) Turland,N. J., L.
Chilton,and J. R. Press. 1993. Flora of the Cretan
area. HMSO, London. (15) Klastersky,I. 1968.
Rosa. Pages 25-32 in T G. Tutin,V. H. Heywood,
N. A. Burges, D. M. Moore, D. H. Valentine,S.
M. Walters,and D. A. Webb,eds., FloraEuropaea.
Vol. 2. UniversityPress, Cambridge.(16) Dioscor-
ides. 2000. Dioscoridesde materiamedica.Transl.
and ed. T A. Osbaldston.Ibidis Press, Johannes-
burg.(17) NationalArchaeologicalMuseum.1999.
Minoans and Mycenaeans:Flavoursof their time.
Athens. (18) Theophrastus. 1999. Enquiry into
736 ECONOMICBOTANY
plants. Transl. A. Hort. Harvard University Press,
Cambridge. (19) Tucker, A. O., M. J. Maciarello,
and J. T. Howell. 1980. Botanical aspects of com-
mercial sage. Economic Botany 34:16-19. (20)
Niebuhr, A. D. 1970. Herbs of Greece. New Eng-
land Unit Herb Society of America, Athens. (21)
Whallon, R., and D. Whallon. 1973-1976. Unpub-
lished notes on Herb Women of Crete, archives of
the Claude E. Phillips Herbarium, Delaware State
University. (22) Baumann, H. 1993. The Greek
plant world in myth, art and literature. Timber
Press, Portland, OR. (23) Doumas, C. 1992. The
wall-paintings of Thera. Transl. A. Doumas. Thera
Foundation, Athens. (24) Warren, P. 1976. Did pa-
pyrus grow in the Aegean? Athens Annals of Ar-
chaeology 9:89-95. (25) Immerwahr, S. A. 1990.
Aegean painting in the Bronze Age. Pennsylvania
State University Press, University Park, PA. (26)
Cerceau, I. 1985. Les representations vegetales
dans l'art Egeen: Problemes d'identification. Bul-
letin de Correspondence Hellenique Supplement
11:181-184.
-Arthur 0. Tucker, Department of Agriculture
and Natural Resources, Delaware State Univer-
sity, Dover, DE 19901-2277, USA; e-mail:
atucker@desu.edu.
Araliaceae species used for culinary and
medicinal purposes in Niigata-ken, Japan.-
The Araliaceae, known as the Ginseng or Aralia
family, has noteworthy culinary and medicinal
usage in Japan. Members of the senior genera-
tion in Japan know of many uses for the species
of this family, a number of which continue to be
of importance today. The purpose of this study
was to record some of these uses while this older
generation with their notable ethnobotanical
knowledge was still available for consultation
and observation.
During a 7 year sojourn that involved teach-
ing ethnobotany and ecology courses at a uni-
versity in Japan, the author had the opportunity
to do ethnobotanical field research during va-
cation periods. Members of the Araliaceae fam-
ily turned out to be especially interesting. By
living in a countryside setting in Niigata-ken
(ken is a term for prefecture), Japan, for an ex-
tended period, the author had a rare opportunity
to observe plant usage in a rural setting and to
personally experiment with some of these uses.
As a result of living in a small town, with a local
farmer's market dating back some 300 years to
the early Edo period, it was possible to observe
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[VOL. 58
some of these useful plants sold as local items
of commerce.
Since ancient times many species of sansai
(mountain vegetables) have been gathered and
eaten in Japan. This custom is still widely prac-
ticed by older people, but the younger genera-
tion is much less often observed gathering san-
sai. The author noted that while many of the
younger generation will eat the tastier sansai if
they are served in restaurants or sold in grocery
stores, young people eat less sansai than older
people. Few young people were seen gathering
medicinal plants, but a number of them known
to the author used medicinal plant preparations
sold in kampo shops. Kampo is a Japanese term
for medicines derived from natural products. A
number of older people were seen gathering me-
dicinal plants in the field and some medicinal
plant material was seen for sale at the local
farmer's market.
The following species had noteworthy ethno-
botanical uses:
Acanthopanax sciadophylloides. Franch. &
Sav. (koshiabura, gonzetsunoki, gonzetsu). This
species was collected in a mature mixed meso-
phytic forest above Sugatani Village at 110 m
above sea level (Brussell 97-103). Hayashi (1)
notes that a decoction of the roots is used to treat
stomach ailments. An elderly lady in Niigata
Prefecture said tea made from the root bark was
used to treat rheumatism and that tea made from
the leaves was an energizing tonic. The young
shoots, which are eaten cooked as tempura, are
very delicious sprinkled with soy sauce. This is
one of the author's favorite sansai (mountain
vegetable) delicacies. The shoots are also eaten
saut6ed, or chopped and added to soup (2). The
author saw the young shoots for sale in the farm-
er's market. The wood of this sizeable forest tree
is used for general construction and chopsticks.
Acanthopanax seiboldianum Makino (himeu-
kogi, ukogi). This species occurs on a hillside
above Kamakura Village at the edge of a Cryp-
tomeria japonica D. Don forest at 110 m above
sea level (Brussell 97-147). A decoction made
from the root bark is drunk to treat rheumatism
and stomachache. Tea made from the leaves is
drunk as an energizing tonic. Nakagawa (3)
states that the mature leaves and stems gathered
in late spring are steamed, dried, and used to
make a tea that raises the blood pressure of peo-
ple with hypotension. Furthermore he states that
the dried, ground up, root bark (gohaki) is mixed