This picture of wild pansy or heartsease was taken last autumn. Our front field was well populated with these beauties amongst the wheat stubble. Sad that they get ploughed in so soon nowadays, though they're still plentiful on set-aside land round here in Suffolk. Photo was taken with Kodak DC120 digital camera in macro mode.
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How the name "Heartsease" came about is not altogether certain. Around the late 1500s, the flower was known as "Two faces in a hood" - the two side petals appeared to be "kissing" within the hood of the upper petals and lower petals - this kiss giving ease of heart. As for "Pansy" -it is thought to be derived from the name the French gave the flower in the late Middle Ages; "penseé. (Information from "The Englishman's Flora by Geoffrey Grigson) |