Date: 8th April 2022

Presenter: Phillip Hohenberger

Book: Plessner, Helmuth. Levels of Organic Life and the Human.

Chapter: IV. The Modes of Being of Vitality (second half, 144-171)

*featured image: Cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis (sl. travniška penuša) starts to bloom in April, i.e., at about the same time as the cuckoo starts to call. It prefers damp ground – it grows on wet meadows and along the banks of streams and ditches where it often forms carpets of blossoms. Its flowers with four petals are characteristic of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae, sl. križnice) and are pollinated by bees, flies, moths and butterflies. Native to most of Europe and Northern Asia, it has also become naturalized in North America. The species is commonly found throughout Slovenia, except for its westernmost part (Posočje, Vipavska dolina, Primorje).

In British folklore the cuckoo flower was said to be sacred to the fairies, and so was considered unlucky if brought indoors.