The Passion in Plants

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The Passion in Plants: The Resurrection - Pearlwort, Touch-me-not and the Alleluia Flower

The Resurrection - Pearlwort, Touch-me-not and the Alleluia Flower

BBC Radio 4 - The Passion in Plants, The Resurrection - Pearlwort, Touch-me-not and the Alleluia Flower

The wild plants telling of Resurrection: pearlwort, touch-me-not and the alleluia flower

Bob Gilbert and Brother Sam seek the plants that by tradition tell of the Resurrection: the pearlwort that cushioned Christ's feet, the touch-me-not balsam and the alleluia flower.

diminutive wood sorrel flowers at Easter and so is called the Alleluia Flower.

In the final episode of the Passion in Plants, the urban naturalist Bob Gilbert and his friend, the Franciscan friar Brother Sam, celebrate the culmination of the Easter story, seeking out the plants associated with the Resurrection. 

As Christ rises from the tomb it is the pearlwort, according to Gaelic legend,  that is there to cushion his first footfall. Bob and Sam find this diminutive plant in the cracks between paving stones in an East London street. 

One of the most beautiful stories of the Resurrection is that of Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Christ and mistaking him for the gardener. As she reaches out to towards him he tells her not to touch him. This Biblical story is told again in the name of the 'touch-me-not' balsam. Rare and late flowering, Bob and Brother Sam have to resort to the herbarium at Kew Gardens to see a specimen.

In the culmination of the story, they do, however, manage to find in the woods at Hilfield friary, the beautiful wood sorrel. Flowering at Easter, it is known as the 'Alleluia plant'.  

Peresenter: Bob Gilbert
Producer: Julian May

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Bob Gilbert traces the associations of British wild plants with the Easter Story.

Bob Gilbert traces the associations of British wild plants with the Easter Story. With Brother Samuel, a Franciscan friar, he explores their traditions and their meanings.

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The Passion in Plants

The Resurrection - Pearlwort, Touch-me-not and the Alleluia Flower

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