Back in the 19th century, an English clergyman wondered whether the number of common names applied to plants in the name of angels exceeded those credited to the devil. His research revealed that the devil, botanically speaking, won out.
Updated delving into the subject confirms the man of the cloth's investigation--with a few strange twists. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is known to some as Angel Flower. However, it has also been labeled both the Devil's Nettle and the Devil's Plaything, perhaps because it naturalizes so easily.
More understandably, Datura also appears in both lists, and several times at that. Valued for their magnificent trumpet-shaped blooms they are also known to be hallucinogenic even causing fatalities. Thus, Datura sanguinea, a fragrant shrub from southeast Brazil may carry name Angel's Tears but Angel's Trumpet, D. inoxia, might also be the Devil's Trumpet. D. stramonium doubles as both the Devil's Apple and Devil's Weed
Perhaps we shouldn't take these juxtapositions too seriously though. As G. K. Chesterton once pointed out, "The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly."
The Angels
"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of the character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning," wrote Lydia M. Child.
Angel's Trumpet Brugmansia sanguinea Red Angel's Trumpet; sm. Tree; S. America
Angel's Trumpet Datura arborea, D. suaveolens, D. inoxia Downy Thorn Apple s. n. am
Angel Wing Begonia B. aconitifolia x B. coccinea; hybridization by California plant breeder Eva Kenworthy Gray in 1926; cane begonia; flowers edible with a tart taste; B. 'Dragon Wing' lacks variation on leaves
See also: B. Lucerna, B. coccinea, B. rubra, B. acutangularis. B. arneteo-guttata
Should this somewhat foreshortened list be bulked up by added heavenly references? "I'm no angel, but I've spread my wings a bit," observed the loquacious Mae West. However, as John Keats observed, "Philosophy will clip and angel's wings." Still, angel comes from Greek angelos, a messenger--and an angel in theatrical parlance is the backer of a performance, a rare bird indeed in today's bleak economy. So, we offer as something of an addendum:
Cathedral Windows Calaythea makoyana
Christ Plant Euphorbia splendens
Christ Thorn Euphorbia splendens
Christ Vine Porana paniculata
Heavenly Bamboo Nandina domestica
Heavenly Blue Thunbergia grandiflora
Heavenly Blue Ipomea tricolor
Heavenly Twine Crassula perforata gigantea
Somewhat more scathingly, Jack-in-the-Pulpit is the Arisaema triphyllum of northeastern North American woods and unfortunately the 'Parson's Nose' the part of the turkey that went last over the fence
More appealingly, an angel cake is a sponge cake made without shortening or egg yolk.
The Devils
The Greek diabolos, originally a slanderer, later came to mean the devil, but it certainly has gained more associations, to give the devil his due as you might say, leaving angels between the devil and the deep blue sea. A printer's devil: is (or perhaps was in these enlightened ages) an apprentice or errand boy, while a devil's advocate is a person who argues perversely. Geographically, Devil's Island, or Ile du Diable off the northern French Guiana Atlantic coast was a former notorious penal colony. But perhaps\'s we'd best leave it there lest we be accused of having a devil-may-care attitude.
Blue Devil Echium vulgare Viper's Bugloss, Blueweed, Blue Thistle; naturalized
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
