''Lunaria annua'', commonly called honesty or annual honesty, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the cabbage and mustard family

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

. It is native to southern Europe, and cultivated throughout the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

world.

Description

It is an annual or biennial growing to tall by broad, with large, coarse, pointed oval leaves with marked serrations. The leaves are hairy, the lower ones long-stalked, the upper ones stalkless.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012 ''Webb's An Irish Flora.'' Cork University Press In spring and summer it bears terminal

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s of white, pink or violet flowers, followed by showy, green through light brown, translucent, disc-shaped

silique A silique or siliqua (plural ''siliques'' or ''siliquae'') is a type of fruit (seed capsule) having two fused carpels with the length being more than three times the width. When the length is less than three times the width of the dried fruit ...

s (not true botanical seedpods), sometimes called moonpennies. When a silique is ripe and dry, a valve on each of its sides readily falls off, and its seeds fall off a central membrane which has a silvery sheen, in diameter; the membrane can persist on a plant throughout a winter depending on the weather. These siliques are much used in dry floral arrangements.

Distribution

''Lunaria annua'' is native to southern Europe from Spain to Romania, and has been introduced to many other parts of the world with temperate climates.

Names

The Latin name ''lunaria'' means 'moon-shaped' and refers to the shape and appearance of this species'

s. The common name "honesty" arose in the 16th century, and relates to the translucence of its silique membranes, which "truthfully" reveal their contents. Additional English names include ''money plant'', ''moneywort'', ''penny flower'', ''silver dollar'', and ''money-in-both-pockets'', ''Chinese money'', or ''Chinese coins''. These too reference the silique membranes, which have the appearance of silvery coins. In French it is known as ''monnaie du pape'' ("Pope's money"). In Denmark it is known as ''judaspenge'' and in Dutch-speaking countries as ''judaspenning'' (both meaning "coins of Judas"), an allusion to the story of

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...

and the thirty pieces of silver he was paid for betraying Christ.

Symbolism

In the language of flowers, the plant represents honesty, money, and sincerity. In witchcraft, the honesty plant is considered protective, being thought to keep away monsters. The plant is also used in spells for prosperity, the flat pods (when ripe and silvery) resembling coins and therefore being seen as symbolising promises of wealth. In the earliest surviving recipe for a flying ointment (recorded by

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n physician Johannes Hartlieb circa 1440), ''Lunaria'' is included as the herbal ingredient corresponding astrologically to the moon and therefore to be picked on the lunar day of Monday.

Cultivation

This plant is easy to grow from seed and tends to naturalize. It is usually grown as a biennial, being sown one year to flower the next. It is suitable for cultivation in a shady or dappled area, or in a wildflower garden, and the flowers and dried siliques are often seen in flower arrangements. Numerous varieties and

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s are available, of which the white-flowered ''L. annua'' var. ''albiflora'' and the variegated white ''L. annua'' var. ''albiflora'' 'Alba Variegata' have won the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Gallery

File:Lunaria annua seeds J3.JPG, Unripe seedpod in July Image:Lunaria annua detail.jpg, Detail of flower Image:Lunaria_annua_chile.JPG, White-flowered form File:Lunaria annua storage roots.jpg, Storage roots at the end of first growth period

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment

USDA Plants Profile

Photo gallery
{{Authority control Annual plants Biennial plants Brassicaceae Garden plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus