Botanical name: Umbilicus rupestris
Pennywort is a unique-looking, succulent, plant that is is found growing on walls and rock crevices. A natural plant of boundaries and edges, I think it has much to teach us about crossing thresholds and the importance of liminal spaces for enabling growth. That's one reason I decided to feature it as the January plant of my new wild plant calendar.
It's known commonl as wall pennywort, and penny pies - the association with pennies linked to its shape and size. It is also widely known as navelwort because the dimple in the middle looks like a bellybutton. These names have some exciting connotations for the plant's symbolism which I explore below.
Read on to find out more about:
Pennywort Identification
Pennywort is a great plant to start foraging as its so easily identifiable, and it grows all year.
It can be found growing in Western and Southern Europe. Withink the UK it is found in Wales, South West England and Northern Ireland (see map).
It has round succulent leaves with scalopped edges, and often dimple in the middle to look a bit like a bellybutton, or navel. It can't really be confused with much else given its distinct shape and habitat.
The genus name Umbilicus is derived from the Latin word for navel, referring to the central depression in its round leaves. The species epithet rupestris means 'of the rocks,' indicating its typical habitat on rocky surfaces - it tends to grow on walls and rocky borders.
Foraging uses
My favourite way to incorporate foraged plants into my diet is as a simple addition to what I'm planning to eat - a truly no fuss approach (see my blog on how to start foraging).
I discovered pennywort while on holiday in Wales for new year, and was immediately drawn to this unique yet beautiful looking plant growing amid the moss on the dry stone walls. A bit of research revealed that it was edible and I was surprised by the salty cucumber-esque taste.
Wall pennywort is best eaten raw in salads as the texture can get a bit slimey when cooked. I was keen to find a way to incorporate them into a more festive treat - so I added them to smoked salmon, topped on a blinis with with creme fraiche. It was truly delicious!
I have since found a study suggesting that it has a high nutritional content. Being a succulent plant, the leaves exhibited a notably high moisture content and contained several beneficial compounds, such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, tocopherols, and various polyphenols. In total, twelve flavonoids, three phenolic acids, and one phenylpropanoid glucoside were identified.
A quick note also to be careful not to pull the roots out when foraging it as these can come loose quite freely and it will stop the plant reproducing in that area. Just snap off the leaves and only take a little.
Herbal medicine
Pennywort may not be the most obvious plant to turn to when you're looking at herbal medicine, but the fact that (like many plants), it has the word 'wort' does denote its usage. It comes from the Old English word wyrt, which means plant or herb and was commonly used in the names of plants believed to have medicinal or practical uses.
The juice of the plant is believed to have diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties and can be consumed as a tonic for the liver and spleen. In traditional herbal medicine, it was utilized to address a variety of ailments, such as inflammations, cuts, chilblains, skin infections, jaundice, tuberculosis, headaches, worms, fevers, liver issues, and kidney and bladder stones. Removing the skin from the tops of the leaves offers immediate relief from burns and stings (source: Totally Wild).
Symbolism
I couldn't find much about the mythology surrounding this intriguing plant online, but so many associations spring to mind both from its name and where it grows.
As is often the case with plants I am researching plants, I find links with where I am in life at that moment in time. Currently, I'm in the third trimester of my pregnancy and also about to celebrate the new year. So, it certainly feels like a time of transition and I get the feeling that this plant fits in perfectly with these themes.
The association with pennies makes it fitting to the new year, as many traditions across europe hide coins in cakes to welcome the new year - with the recipient drawing the slice of cake with the coin having good luck and prosperity for the year ahead. I like to think of this as a wild equivalent of a good luck coin that can be foraged as a refreshing snack by walkers on their journey.
Plants growing in boundary or transitional spaces, such as walls or rocks, often hold symbolic meaning as mediators between worlds in folklore. Quite often in nature we find growth along boundaries, but what's interesting about this plant is that it grows on rocks which are not naturally thought of as the most fertile of spaces (unlike, say, a hedge). That this plant can draw nutrients from such places is a reminder not only of the incredible ways nature adapts to its environment but also that there is strength to be drawn from crossing thresholds and making transitions, even when they seem at first glance to be jagged or inhospitable places.
The resemblance of the plant’s round, navel-like leaves to a belly button connects it symbolically to the umbilicus (the navel), which is inherently tied to birth and maternal connection. This is especially true if following Doctrine of Signatures, a historical belief system suggesting that a plant's form indicates its uses or symbolic meanings. The flowers of this plant grow from this dimple area, adding to the metaphor. I have also seen the plant t refered to as 'Venus's navel', referring of course the goddess of fertility (as well as love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity).
Concluding thoughts
This plant will forever have an ethereal representation for me as a liminal plant growing at the boundaries between worlds. Its link to birth via its name and shape, tendancy to grow on walls, and my personal association of it to the new year, really marks it as a plant of thresholds.
If you notice this distinctive plant when out walking, I encourage you to have a taste (after researching its ID features of course), and to think about its links to boundaries and transitions and what this could mean in your life. Slowing down and connecting with plants in this way can be such a mindful and meaningful practice, allowing the wild to accompany us on our journey through transitional periods.
Sources
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