The sacred features, however,
remained impressed upon the linen, and from the fancied resemblance of
the blossom of the speedwell to this hallowed relic, the plant was
named Veronica.
A plant closely connected by tradition with the crucifixion is the
passion-flower. As soon as the early Spanish settlers in South America
first glanced on it, they fancied they had discovered not only a
marvellous symbol of Christ's passion, but received an assurance of the
ultimate triumph of Christianity. Jacomo Bosio, who obtained his
knowledge of it from certain Mexican Jesuits, speaks of it as "the
flower of the five wounds," and has given a very minute description of
it, showing how exactly every part is a picture of the mysteries of the
Passion. "It would seem," he adds, "as if the Creator of the world had
chosen it to represent the principal emblems of His Son's Passion; so
that in due season it might assist, when its marvels should be explained
to them, in the condition of the heathen people, in whose country it
grew." In Brittany, vervain is popularly termed the "herb of the cross,"
and when gathered with a certain formula is efficacious in curing
wounds. [21]
In legendary lore, much uncertainty exists as to the tree on which Judas
hanged himself.
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