12 July: Snapdragons

Today's plant of the day is the great snapdragon, dedicated to St John Gualbert, whose feast day is today.

1. They're called snapdragons because if you pick one of the flowers and gently squeeze it, it will open and close like a mouth. The scientific name is Antirrhinum, which means "like a nose".
2. Snapdragons are called “rabbit’s lips” in Asia and “lion’s lips” in Holland.
3. It was once believed they belonged to the figwort family; but once their DNA was sequenced, it was found they belong to the Plantaginaceae family instead. This family includes plantains and foxgloves.
4. They are native to rocky areas of Europe, the United States, and North Africa.
5. Snapdragons grow best in full sun with damp soil, and can be grown in pots. They can survive in lower temperatures, but do need regular watering.
6. The leaves and flowers have anti-inflammatory properties and can be made into poultices. The flowers can be used to make green dye. In Russia, they extract edible oil from the seeds.
7. There are about 40 species of snapdragon. They come in a huge variety of colours and range in height from 15 to 120 centimetres (6 to 48 inches).
8. In the Middle Ages, women would wear snapdragons in their hair to signal that they were not interested in any advances from men. This led to them meaning deception, denial and presumption. If someone sent you a snapdragon as a gift, it meant they thought you were attractive, but deceptive and somewhat dangerous.
9. On a more positive note, it also means grace and courtesy, so they would be good flowers to bring as a gift to a host when you visit.
10. They have been seen as having magical powers - such as warding off evil. Hence in Germany snapdragons were often hung above a baby's cradle to keep evil spirits and witches away. They were seen as lucky flowers to have in a wedding bouquet, and were even thought by some to have the power to restore a woman's youth and beauty.

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