October  8,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
329 
Lightning  and  Trees  and  Plants. 
It  is  a  matter  of  individual  opinion,  and,  as  such,  must  there¬ 
fore  bo  taken  for  what  it  may  be  worth  ;  but  my  personal  belief 
is  that  tlie  forecasts  of  the  weatlier,  which  appear  in  so  many 
newspapers,  if  tliey  have  advantages,  have  also  their  objection¬ 
able  side.  People  are  led  by  these  to  study  the  weather  too 
much,  and,  as  a  consequence,  they  attribute  various  aches  and 
ails  to  its  influence,  with  which  it  has  little  or  nothing  to  do, 
and  trouble  themselves  about  atmospheric  changes,  which  seldom 
come  when  they  expect  them. 
Speaking  generally,  it  is  the  idlers  who  are  the  weather 
students,  but  gardenei’s  must  be  excused  for  being  somewhat 
observant  of  its  moods.  Their  successes  and  failures  are  largely 
dependenti  upon  it;  their  occupation  has  to  be  carried  on,  at 
times,  under  watery  influences  by  no  means  cheering,  though 
during  such  showers  as  we  had  last  July  both  the  gardener  and 
the  field  labourer  are  ^ _ _ 
obliged  to  pull  up  for 
a  Avhile.  We  hear 
occasionally  of  field 
labourers  being  in¬ 
jured  in  a  thunder¬ 
storm,  seldom  of  gar¬ 
deners;  the  reason  is 
obvious.  On  a  field 
persons  are  more 
likely  to  become 
marks  for  the  electric 
current  than  in  a 
garden,  where  chim¬ 
neys  may  not  be  far 
distant,  and  probably 
a  variety  of  shrubs 
or  trees  are  growing 
about.  Indeed, 
though  many  would 
not  think  so,  a  wood 
is  one  of  the  safest 
places  to.  be  in  during 
a  storm,  if  it  has  no 
very  tall  trees. 
It  has  long  been 
a  subject,  for  specula¬ 
tion,  and  will  con¬ 
tinue  to  be,  whether, 
under  one  species  of 
tree,  we  are  exposed 
to  more  peril  than 
under  another ;  but 
we  have  ceased  to  be¬ 
lieve  in  a  curious 
idea  which  had  pre¬ 
valence  centuries  ago. 
So  far  as  we  can 
judge,  its  origin  was 
in  the  East ;  but  it 
was  imported  to  these 
Western  countries. 
Various  trees  and 
plants  had  the.  repute 
of  being  accumulators 
or  resting  places  of 
li^itning;  they  re¬ 
ceived  it  from  the 
sky,  and  could  send  it  forth  again.  To  the  livel.y  imagination 
of  the  ancients  lightning  was  not  an  electric  current ;  it  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  a  worm,  a  fiery  serpent,  an  arrow,  or  a  forked 
wand;  a  flower  or  leaf  might  be  its  symbol,  and  its  receptacle 
a  tree.  Amongst  those  named  are  the  Ash,  Hazel,  Whitethorn, 
and  that  mystic  plant  the  Mi.stletoe.  Even  some  birds,  such 
as  the  woodpecker,  were  thought  to  be  connected  with  light¬ 
ning. 
Hindoos  of  the  present  day  attribute  extraordinary  virtues 
to  a  Mimosa,  which  is  one  of  the  lightning  trees;  it  has  the 
power  of  curing  diseases,  and  is  an  especial  protection  against 
the  dreaded  influence  of  the  “  evil  eye.”  Another  tree  con¬ 
nected  with  the  celestial  fire  is  called  the  “  Palusa  ”  ;  it  has  a  red 
sap,  and  scarlet  blossoms,  therefore  by  its  appearance  suggestive 
of  flames. 
The  Mountain  Ash,  familiar  to  us  in  Britain,  is  one  of  the 
trees  presumed  to  be  a  receiver  of  lightning  or  owing  its 
origin  to  the  clirrent.  From  the  brilliancy  of  its  scarlet  berries 
this  tree  came  to  be  regarded  with  admiration,  mixed  with  awe, 
even  by  those  who  did  not  look  upon  it  as  a  lightning  species. 
To  this  hour,  in  the  Scotch  Highlands,  a  cross  of  Rowan  is 
carried  by  maidens  to  protect  them  .against  unseen  dangers. 
Germans  fix  a  twig  above  the  door  of  a  house  for  good  luck. 
The  Loganberry,  natural  size. 
Not  a  tree  is  it  casting  much  shade,  but  how  would  it  be  to 
.stand  near  the  Rowan  during  a  storm?  Well,  there  seems 
to  have  been  a  difference  of  opinion  about  the  dangerous  nature 
of  lightning  plants  ;  people  did  not  shun  the  Rowan,  but  they 
wei'o  afraid  of  the  common  Ash. 
There  was  a  saying,  “  Avoid  the  A.sh,  it  counts  the  flash  ”  ; 
yet  we  might  have  thought  the  strength  of  its  wood  rather  a 
safeguard  again-st  serious  injury  from  the  electric  current. 
Frequently  the  Ash  is  seen  growing  in  positions  where  it  is 
much  exposed  to  the  weather.  In  passing,  we  notice  the  fact 
that  few  plants  flourish  under  the  .shade  of  this  tree  ;  the  rea.son 
must  be,  we  presume,  an  effect  arising  from  its  drip.  This  would 
mean  that  the  rain  carries  down  something  in  .solution  from 
branches  or  leaveG,  possibly  of  an  astringent  nature. 
Sacred  both  to  Pagans  and  C'hristians  was  the  Hazel,  a  tree 
of  many  virtues,  also  a  lightning  plant;  some  believed  it  to  be 
a  in'oduct  of  the  sky.  Yet  it  was  not  thought  perilous  to  ap¬ 
proach  it  in  a  storm;  indeed,  the  Christian  legend  accounting 
for  its  sacredness  was  that  while  en  route  for  Egypt,  the  Holy 
Family  found  tempo¬ 
rary  shelter  under  a 
Hazel.  By  the  old 
Pagan  belief  this  tree 
wa.s  ■  one  specially 
dedicated  to  the 
deity  Thor.  In  some 
parts  of  the  Conti¬ 
nent  a  twig  is  cut 
when  it  is  leafing, 
and  on  the  first  thun¬ 
der  shower  a  cross  is 
made  with  it  over 
corn  in  granaries,  the 
supposition  being 
that  this  will  pre¬ 
serve  the  grain  from 
mould  or  insects.  A 
bit  of  Hazel  put  in¬ 
side  the  window-sill 
was  supposed  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  entry  of 
lightning  into  a 
hou.se. 
One  odd  fancy 
about  the  tree  wa.s 
that  a  profirsion  of  its 
nuts  indicated  the 
approaching  arrival 
of  a  large  number  of 
infants !  Then  the 
Whitethorn,  Haw¬ 
thorn,  or  May  tree 
has  also  a  place 
amongst  the  light¬ 
ning  species.  Before 
the  Christian  Era  the 
Greeks  and  Romans 
regarded  this  tree 
with  reverence,  and 
by  both  nations  its 
flowers  and  leaves 
figured  conspicuously 
in  the  marriage  cere¬ 
monial.  One.  causf 
for  the  Christian  re¬ 
gard  it  received  was 
the  tradition  that 
from  its  branches  Christ’s  crown  of  thorns  was  made.  Yet  there 
was  a  general  objection  to  bringing  branches  of  Hawthorn  into 
dwelling-houses;  but  people  stuck  them  over  the  doorways  during 
May. 
The  Oak,  associated  with  fairyland  and  a  host  of  legends, 
had  also  the  repute  of  a  lightning  origin,  and  it  was  a  serious 
thing  to  fell  one  of  these  trees  of  ancient  date,  unless  a  strong 
reason  existed.  But,  though  a  sacred  tree,  it  had  no  im¬ 
munity  from  the  lightning  flash,  and  persons  have  often  been 
struck  when  standing  beneath  an  Oak.  This  has  occurred  some¬ 
times  through  Oaks  standing  solitary,  being  planted  as  land¬ 
marks  at  the  borders  of  estates.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the 
Oak  is  more  fre((uently  struck  by  lightning  than  other  trees, 
because  it  is  apt  to  be  gnarled  and  twi.sted  with  numerous  projec¬ 
tions  on  its  trunk.  The  comparative  inimunit.y  of  the  Beech, 
again,  has  been  attributed  to  the  fact  that  its  trunk  is  smooth, 
offering  no  points  of  attraction.  Indeed,  an  effort  was  made  by 
some  to  prov'e  the  Beech  is  never  struck  by  lightning;  but  there 
have  beien  undeniable  cases. 
The  Mistletoe,  always  highly  reverenced,  but  particularly 
sacred  when  growing  upon  an  Oak,  was  .supposed  to  be  an  em¬ 
bodiment  of  the  lightning,  and  its  forked  branches  had  a  signi¬ 
ficance  to  many,  “  Thunder-besom  ”  being  one  of  its  names.  Like 
