National Symbols of Lithuania - Trees and Plants

Trees and Plants

The national plant is rue (rūta). A bride traditionally wears a little crown made of rue, which is a symbol of maidenhood. During the wedding the crown is burned, symbolizing the loss of careless childhood and entrance into the world of adulthood.

Trees of special significance include oak (ąžuolas), birch (beržas), linden (liepa), and spruce (eglė). A veneration of oak trees comes from pagan times, when they were of religious significance. The Stelmužė Oak, thought to be at least 1,500 years old, is the best-known tree in the country. The significance of trees is reflected in the Lithuanian calendar. The month of June is, in Lithuanian, "birch" (birželio mėnuo), and the month of July is "linden" (liepos mėnuo).

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Famous quotes containing the words trees and/or plants:

    At twelve, the disintegration of afternoon
    Began, the return to phantomerei, if not
    To phantoms. Till then, it had been the other way:
    One imagined the violet trees but the trees stood green,
    At twelve, as green as ever they would be.
    The sky was blue beyond the vaultiest phrase.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
    Bible: New Testament, 1 Corinthians 3:7-9.