The genus Circaea is named after Circe, an enchantress featured in the Odyssey by Homer. Some say this plant was part of the potion she used to turn Odysseus's companions into swine. Since this is a native American plant, I doubt she or Homer ever actually saw it. However, she is not the only Homeric hero associated with this herb. The common name Sorcerer of Paris and Paris Nightshade alludes not to the city in France, but to Paris of Troy from the Illiad.

Enchanter's nightshade is listed as an ingredient in many of the "ancient" herbals and magical compendiums, but berries are often mentioned. Since this plant has sticky burrs, not berries, one can only assume that these texts were referring to a different (probably European native) plant.

In the language of flowers, enchanter's nightshade means witchcraft or sorcery.

The origin of the common name "foxglove" is unclear, but the original name may have been folksglove, referring to faerie folk.
The Latin name, digitalis comes from the word "digitanus", meaning finger for the timble shaped flowers that look like you could fit your finger right inside.

Although foxglove is very dangerous if misused, it has a long history of medicinal use for heart and kidney problems, edema and aconite poisoning. Legend says that Van Gogh used it to treat his epilepsy.
An old saying about foxglove goes "It can raise the dead and it can kill the living".

In the 1700s, William Withering learned of this folk remedy from "an old woman in Shropshire" and studied it. This led to Digitalis being a very important plant-derived medicine for heart disease that is still in use to this day.

In Roman mythology, Flora showed Hera how to impregnate herself with no need of a man by touching a foxglove to her belly and her breasts. She either gave birth to Mars or Vulcan from this method, depending on the source.

Scandinavian legend says that the faeries taught foxes to ring foxglove bells to warn each other of approaching hunters.

According to lore, Native Americans used this plant for its healing attributes but also to commit suicide.

The botanical name Podophyllum peltatum comes from the greek "podos" and "phyllon" meaning "foot-shaped leaves" and "Peltatum" meaning "shield".

Romans sent boughs of holly and gifts to their friends during Saturnalia.

Druids decorated their homes with holly in the winter to invite nature spirits to shelter there.

An edict of the Church of Bracara once forbid Christians to decorate their homes with holly, as it was a Pagan practice.

One legend says that holly first sprang from the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Its thorns and red berries represent his suffering and blood.

Holy planted near a home is said to repel poison and protect from witchcraft and lightening. The wood has the power to tame animals and the flowers to freeze water.

In NeoPagan lore, the Holly King rules the dark half of the year, often accompanied by a female Ivy figure. Some believe this figure to be the modern image of Santa Clause.

Ancient herbals distinguish between Black Hellebore and White Hellebore. White Hellebore has been identified by modern scholars as a plant now known as False Hellebore. Black Hellebore, on the other hand has been identified as Helleborus officianalis, a native of Greece and Asia Minor.

The genus name, Helleborus comes from the Greek elein, meaning "to injur" and bora, meaning "food" alluding to the plant's poisonous nature.

Melampodium, an old name for Hellebore, refers to the ancient physician Melampus who used Hellebore to cure the daughters of the king of Argos of the madness of the maenads. Where they drunk? Did the herb make them vomit themselves sober?

Some have speculated the Alexander the Great died of Hellebore poisoning while being treated for an illness.

In Christian lore, the first Hellebore grew from the spot where a little girl's tear dropped onto the snow because she had no gift for the Christ child.

According to some sources, Hellebore was an ingredient in the legendary "flying ointmenti".

Comfrey has been cultivated for healing since 400 BCE. It was used by such notable Greek physicians as Herodotus, Nicander, Galen and Dioscorides. It continued to be used throughout history and its use spread throughout Europe.

The name Symphytum comes from the Greek meaning "Grow together" + "plant". And comfrey comes from the Latin meaning to grow together.

The name Bistort comes from Latin meaning twice-twisted, referring to the shape of the root.

Like many of the herbs I discuss here, the yew has a long and exciting history. Yew is very strong and resiliant was once considered the material for making longbows. Ideally, the wood for a yew bow was taken from the juncture of heartwood and sapwood, and the bow contained both. Fine bows were traded between the British Isles and the mainland during the Middle Ages and as supplies were depleted, a tax of four bowstaves per tun was imposed on every ship coming into English ports in 1472. In 1562, the Bavarian government sent a plea to the Holy Roman Empire to stop cutting yew, siting damage done to the forests. The great, ancient yews protected other trees in the forest from severe winds. Lucky for the yew trees and their neighbors, guns began replacing bows soon after.

Yew was (and is) also popular in England as a hedge tree, especially in church yards where they stood watch over the headstones, perhaps in reference to their symbolism of immortality, which is likely older than Christianity, or it may have been more practical. Planting trees known to instantly kill grazing animals would have discouraged herders from allowing their animals to trample sacred sites. Some yew trees still stand in church yards that are over 500 years old. Some claim a few of these yews are over 2000 years old and remnants of pre-Christian holy sites that were co-opted by the church. Old Irish tales speak of Baile who died of grief for Ailinn and from his grave a yew tree grew.

The traditioni of planting yews in churchyards and graveyards was immortalized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the following poem:

Old warder of these buried bones,
And answering now my random strokes
With fruitful cloud and living smoke,
Dark yew, that graspest at the stones
And dippest toward the dreamless head,
To thee too comes the golden hour
When flower is feeling after flower.

Yew poisoning seems to have been a popular choice for honorouble suicide among the ancient Celts. In their writings, Caesar, Florus and Orosius each recounted instances where Celtic individuals or groups took their own lives by yew poisoning rather than submit to their conquerors.

The Temple of Uppsala in Sweden was a temple devoted to the Norse Gods. There is little archaeological evidence for this temple, but there are a few written accounts from Adam of Bremens, the Norse sagas and Gesta Danorum. No one is sure what happened to it, though it may be speculated that the cathedral that currently stands in the town was built upon its ruins. According to legend, a great sacred evergreen stood in the temple. It is believed by some that this tree was a yew.

Yew are sacred in many Heathen and Druidic traditions. It is one of the five sacred trees of Irish mythology known as the Tree of Ross.

The name Amaranth comes from the word amaranton, which means "unwithering", because the flowers maintain their shape and color when dried.

Amaranth was a staple in the diets of pre-Columbian Aztecs, who believed it had supernatural powers and incorporated it into their religious ceremonies. Before the Spanish conquest in 1519, amaranth was associated with human sacrifice and the Aztec women made a mixture of ground amaranth seed, honey or human blood then shaped this mixture into idols that were eaten ceremoniously. This practice appalled the conquistadors who reasoned that eliminating the amaranth would also eliminate the sacrifices. The grain was forbidden by the Spanish, and consequently fell into obscurity for hundreds of years.

In the Cusco area the flowers are used to treat toothache and fevers and as a food colorant for maize and quinoa. During the carnival festival women dancers often use the red amaranth flower as rouge, painting their cheeks, then dancing while carrying bundles of amaranth on their backs as they would a baby.

In India amaranth is known as "rajeera" (the King's grain) and is popped then used in confections called "laddoos," which are similar to Mexican "alegria."

In Ecuador, the flowers are boiled then the colored boiling water is added to "aquardeinte" rum to create a drink that "purifies the blood," and is also reputed to help regulate the menstrual cycle.

Solomon's Seal is named for King Solomon of Hebrew lore who was granted great wisdom by the Hebrew God and had a special seal that aided him in his magical workings, allowing him to command demons without coming to harm.

According to herbal lore, King Solomon himself placed his seal upon this plant when he recognized its great value. Those with imagination can see the seal on the root stock in the circular scars left by the stem after it dies back.

Solomon's Seal has also been traditional used to "seal" wounds.

You can estimate the plant's age by examining the rhizome. Each year the stem leaves on scar, or "seal" on the rhizome. Counting these will give you an idea of how long your plant has been alive.