Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

Bard Judith

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Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« on: 01 May 2011, 04:27:23 »

SNUFFWORT: AKA Sneezeweed, Sneezewort, Sneezlewort, Snuffweed, Snuffle (Tharian) A'ch'hoo (Brownin), 'Nose-tickler' (translated ThergerimTaal)

b) Basic Overview of the Plant

Rarely is a utilitarian herb so decorative; snuffwort, known and used widely as a source of the medicinal powder 'snuff', is a tall plant with round, richly purple pompoms of flowers that stand out against its ferny, bright green leaves. When those leaves have changed to a coppery red in the fall, they are pulverized to create the nose-tickling snuff, which some compare to pipeweed in its recreational usage, effects, and social leveling. From country farmer hobbits to lean elvish ship's captains, from effete Santhalan nobles to the humblest Tanner's Bend rag merchants, every man can afford at least his 'pinch a day' of this stimulating powder.

c) Description

d) Territory

e) Usages
.

f) Reproduction
.

g) Myth/Lore/Origins

This lyrical little rhyme, which is associated with the Santharian fairy tale The Bees' Gift, mentions the plant among other local flowers.

You are one, and we are many.
Life is but a summer short.
Buttercup and fairypenny,
Tulip, daisy, sneezlewort.

A number of expressions having to do with snuffwort and snuff-taking have passed into common usage - some are even considered cliche by now. The most frequently-heard is 'a pinch a day', which we use casually now to suggest any regular duty or even mildly-irksome daily chore, but which originally came from the proverb "A pinch of snuff a day / Will keep the plague away." As above, since sneezlewort is considered medicinal, taking one's 'pinch a day' was something you could do to stay healthy and fend off diseases.

Other snuff-related sayings: "Whether he sneeze, snuff, or sniffle, he who wipes not is not worth a piffle." This rather elaborate verse came into being at the height of the snuff craze in New Santhala, (in 15XX) when fashionable gentlemen took to snuff with enthusiasm, coin, and associated fripperies. Not only were the fanciest of snuffleboxes created at this time, but the various parphernelia which we are now familiar with, such as the snuffle-pestle, the tarep-foot duster, the snuff-fan, and the snuffkerchief. While it is claimed that the bright prints and relatively gaudy hues of the snuffkerchief, which distinguish it from the more refined gentlefolks' linen, were designed to hide the stains from snuff-taking, this is a fallacy. Firstly, only the heaviest and crudest of sneezlewort users contract a reddish tint to their effluvium and sputum, and secondly, the unique prints were developed by XXXian dyers as a way of indulging their personal tastes while serving the sudden market demand for 'snuff handkerchiefs'.

(insert picture of snuffkerchief design here - similar to a Hermes scarf!

)

"Snuffwort taken green is not worth a bean."

The expression 'cutting it fine' to suggest a narrow escape, or carelessness, comes from the way in which the dried leaves of sneezlewort must be diced and ground. Hurried and careless preparers will create a low-quality powder which can irritate the passages of the nose in undesirable ways, even to the point of causing injuries such as - if our audience will forgive our explicitness - ulcerations, festers, or pustules resulting from larger pieces of vegetation which remain trapped within.

"As red as sneezeweed" clearly needs no explanation, as the plant's fall hues are a rich and lovely scarlet which fades into a coppery red in the winter if not harvested at point. Unfortunately tests to extract the colouring principle so far have proved unsuccessful: one may indeed dye a piece of fabric with the tint, but it is fugitive, washing out to the merest pinkish stain. Hence the only colouring use for snuffwort so far is as a simple cosmetic used by the country lasses to enrich the colour of their lips and cheeks for an evening festival. Picked in the fall and ground in a mortar before it is dried, it produces a soft red paste that can be dabbed on for temporary enhancement. Upon second thought, perhaps we should be thankful that the dye is fugitive, as doubtless we may thank this property of sneezlewort for NOT tinting users' noses with its own bright hue!


« Last Edit: 07 May 2011, 04:12:16 by Bard Judith »	Logged

"Give me a land of boughs in leaf / a land of trees that stand; / where trees are fallen there is grief; / I love no leafless land." --A.E. Housman

Shabakuk Zeborius Anfang

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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #1 on: 01 May 2011, 14:32:22 »

I like the Browniin name.

If you'd consider adding "sneezlewort" (with an L) to the list of common names, there'd be a nice little opportunity for integration:

Quote

You are one, and we are many.
Life is but a summer short.
Buttercup and fairypenny,
Tulip, daisy, sneezlewort.

... 'bout half way down the story. No characteristics of sneezlewort are determined there - only the name. So it's yours to take, if you want it.


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #2 on: 01 May 2011, 17:09:18 »

Fabulous! Sneezlewort fits with perfection into the list of regional Tharian names. Thank you for that sharp-eyed provision...


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #3 on: 01 May 2011, 17:13:13 »

Oh, and I see the next time I am short of inspiration for a picture I can illustrate 'fairypenny' or 'meadowjenny' and try thereby to tempt you into providing their entries! Lovely and lyrical names which deserve it....


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #4 on: 01 May 2011, 18:40:26 »

Fairypenny sounds like a mushroom, and I can't help but think of Queen Anne's Lace for meadowjenny, but that's just me.
And yes, the brownie name is hilariously onomatopoeic


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #5 on: 04 May 2011, 03:34:19 »

That's it! Meadowjenny is already illustrated in the picture of the Stratan cow!

I shall clearly have to do a better close-up of the plant, however...

Fairypenny, however, is not a mushroom but a close relative of wild mustard, with its tiny roundish seedpods which go golden in autumn....

We do have pennies.... don't we? Or at least pence?


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Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - the picture

« Reply #6 on: 05 May 2011, 17:06:32 »

Sneezewort - now, illustrated!

Enjoy.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/222922_10150168700123587_517153586_6971268_4751190_n.jpg


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #7 on: 05 May 2011, 17:19:35 »

Just a question Dearest Masterbard ...

is the following:

Quote

You are one, and we are many.
Life is but a summer short.
Buttercup and fairypenny,
Tulip, daisy, sneezlewort.

Inspired by the chorus of We Are Australian?

It goes in part of the chorus

Quote

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come,
We share a dream, and sing with one voice,
I am, You are, We are Australian


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #8 on: 05 May 2011, 17:39:51 »

You'd have to ask our dear Shabby! I believe the verse is of his design - at least I seem to remember him sending me the cross-ref request!


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Shabakuk Zeborius Anfang

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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #9 on: 07 May 2011, 00:14:42 »

Dek: I didn't know the Australian anthem when I wrote this. Any similarities are unintentional. In any case, the meaning is quite different, as you'll see if you read the whole song & the fairy tale of which it is a part (see below).

Judy: Would you consider writing, in the Lore Section, something like:

"This lyrical little rhyme, which is associated with the Santharian fairy tale The Bees' Gift, mentions the plant among other local flowers."

This way, the reader could be directed, via a link, to the fairy tale and the remaining verses of the rhyme. I thought that the poem could be associated with "The Bees' Gift" in a way similiar to how the line "Mirror, mirror on the wall ..." will inevitably evoke "Snow White" for Germans and many others.


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #10 on: 07 May 2011, 03:45:55 »

Where is the Stratan cow picture Judith?


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Re: Snuffwort / Sneezeweed - a sternutatory and addictive herb

« Reply #11 on: 07 May 2011, 04:11:38 »

Shab: done!
Valan: In the Cows overview, I believe.

Sorry, folks, in a hurry... (gathers up her full green skirts and dashes off to another forum)