Resurrection Flowers

Have you heard about the anti-aging, apparently shamanic Resurrection Flower? I hadn’t heard a thing about it until I saw it mentioned whilst looking for something else and now I want to grow them!

Endemic to the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria,* this evergreen perennial has pretty lilac flowers and the official name of Haberlea Rhodopensis. But it has a profusion of folk names like Resurrection Plant – or flower – Orpheus Flower and Immortality Flower.

For years botanical scientists thought the names were just hyperbole or because of the plant’s mythological links: the mountains are named after the goddess, queen and/or nymph Rhodope and the flowers were said to have sprung up from the tears of Orpheus after he botched the rescue of his lover from the Underworld.

Upon investigation, guess what came to light? The Orpheus Flower is a ‘glacial relict’ – that is, it survived the Ice Age – and can also bring itself back to life after even substantial periods of not only drought but actual dessication.

Interestingly, it has no scent and is thus unappealing to bees – it’s pollination is all via low-ranking insects – presumably it decided to focus on virtual immortality. It also has a penchant for the shadier sections of volcanic granite, preferably on “rocky outcrops hovering over precipices where humans and animals cannot reach” and does not put down roots. 

This sounds thoroughly plutonic and aiding this concept, one of the many tales around the mysterious Rhodope is that she was a childhood playmate/constant companion of Persephone.

Along with potential action against pathogenic bacteria, it’s now been proven to have skin-protective, tissue-damage-healing, collegen-boosting etc powers. As you can see from this list, these traits have not gone unnoticed by the purveyors of anti-aging creams.

While I only looked at a few of the entries, it seems as if the nature of this plant would be swamped by all the other ingredients, especially the butylene glycol style of additive.

So really, why can’t we just grow it? If this plant can make it through an Ice Age, it’s presumably going to be unphased by even the most erratic gardener, right?

Who doesn’t love the idea of sipping on Immortality tea, made with just a few petals or a spare leaf, the plant itself being left to thrive away iconically?!

The shamanic benefits would be a bonus but aside from their mention in Wikipedia, I cannot find any actual evidence of such. I think it’s surmised because it is known that the Ancient Thracians loved Resurrection Flower and like the Ancient Etruscans,  Minoans & Egyptians etc they were big on magic and multi-dimensional awareness.

Thoughts?

*The part of Bulgaria that was once Thrace, a region named after the Sorceress who reputedly ruled there once upon a time.