Reference Files

Picture by Hardy M. Cook

Picture from Hardy M. Cook

From the Merevale Archives with the permission of Sir William Dugdale, who retains copyright

From the Merevale Archives with the permission of Sir William Dugdale, who retains copyright

From the Merevale Archives with the permission of Sir William Dugdale, who retains copyright

From the Merevale Archives with the permission of Sir William Dugdale, who retains copyright

From the Merevale Archives with the permission of Sir William Dugdale, who retains copyright

From the Merevale Archives with the permission of Sir William Dugdale, who retains copyright

This essay asserts that the aphrodisiac plant in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,heretofore identified as Viola tricolor, is actually Catananche caerulea, commonly known as Cupid’s dart.  Additionally, this essay argues the flower that grows from the blood of Adonis in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, heretofore identified as an anemone, is also Catananche caerulea.  It is further argued that the flower that grows from the blood of Adonis in Shakespeare’s poem Venus and Adonis, usually identified as an anemone, is actually Viola tricolor.