The fern flower is a magic flower in

Baltic mythology Baltic mythology is the body of mythology of the Baltic peoples stemming from Baltic paganism and continuing after Christianization and into Baltic folklore. History Baltic mythology ultimately stems from Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Bal ...

(, ), in Estonian mythology () and in

Slavic mythology Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, or Slavic religion refer to the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and ...

(, , , ).

Tradition

According to the myth, this flower blooms for a very short time on the eve of the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

(celebrated on June 21, June 23 and 24 or sometimes July 7). It brings fortune to the person who finds it. In some tales, it allows humans to understand animal speech. It is closely guarded by evil spirits and though the one who succeeds in gathering it can receive earthly riches, that attainment has always brought ill luck, so some leave it alone.

Estonian and Baltic

In the Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian tradition, the fern flower is supposed to appear only on the night of 23 to 24 June during the celebration of the

which is called

Jāņi Jāņi () is an annual Latvians, Latvian festival celebrating the summer solstice. Although, astronomically the solstice falls on the 21st or 22nd of June, the public holidays—Līgo Day and Jāņi Day—are on the 23rd and 24th of June. The d ...

in Latvia,

Joninės Saint Jonas' Festival, also known as ''Rasos'' (''Dew Holiday''), ''Joninės'', ''Kupolė'', Midsummer Day or Saint John's Day) is a midsummer folk festival celebrated on 24 June all around Lithuania. The celebrations often involve flower wreat ...

or Rasos in Lithuania, Jaaniõhtu or Jaaniöö in Estonia and juhannus in Finland. The celebration has pre-Christian origins. In addition to the idea that the finder of the fern flower will become rich or happy, here, the fern flower is sometimes perceived a symbol of

fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...

. During this supposedly magical night, young couples go into the woods "seeking the fern flower", which is most commonly read as a euphemism for sex. Sex can lead to pregnancy; the child could be thought of as the fern flower. Referring to this tradition
Papardes zieds
("fern flower" in Latvian) is the name of an NGO in Latvia that promotes education about matters pertaining to

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, fertility, and relationships.

Swedish

Similar beliefs are attested in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where the fern flower was said to be found only at midnight on Midsummer's Eve, and even then was protected by magic and thus hard to obtain. This also applied to

horsetail ''Equisetum'' (; horsetail) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. ''Equisetum'' is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass Equisetidae, which ...

and

daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

flowers; of daphne, a flowering plant, it was said: "The flowers are a rarity if picked on nights when they are ''believed'' to bloom. The naturally occurring flowers no one believes to be daphne flowers.""Blommor äro en raritet om de tagas de nätter de ''tros'' blomma. De blommor som äro naturliga tror ingen vara tibastblommor." Ericsson, ''Folklivet i Åkers och Rekarne härader'', p. 251.

East Slavic

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, and in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

the holiday is practiced on the eve of Ivan Kupala Day. Young girls wear wreaths in their hair and couples go into the woods searching for the fern flower. When they come out of the woods, if the male is wearing the girl's wreath, it means the couple is engaged to be married. According to Ukrainian folklore, the flower is called Chervona Ruta. It is yellow, but according to legend, it turns red on the eve of Ivan Kupala Day.

Polish

In many parts of Poland adder’s tongue,

Ophioglossum vulgatum ''Ophioglossum vulgatum'', commonly known as adder's-tongue, southern adder's-tongue or adder's-tongue fern, is a species of fern in the family ''Ophioglossaceae''. The chloroplast genome was reported to have a size of 138,562 base pairs. Descr ...

, was believed to be fern flower''.'' It is a fern that does not look like a fern. It lacks the characteristic divided fine leaves. The leaf is simple and is accompanied by a stalk with spores. Altogether it looks like a green calla-type flower or a plantain. Hundreds of years ago, people in the Polish countryside figured out that it was a kind of fern. Central Europe is rife with stories of a flowering fern blooming only on Midsummer night or at Christmas. And in Poland, the flowering fern usually meant adder’s tongue. A lot of magic powers were attributed to this plant. The plant is very small and easy to overlook in grass swards. It was believed that adder’s tongue opened all locks. It also brought immense luck in love. The following love charm was uttered while collecting the plant: ''Nasięźrzale, nasięźrzale,'' ''Rwę cię śmiale,'' ''Pięcią palcy, szóstą, dłonią,'' ''Niech się chłopcy za mną gonią;'' ''Po stodole, po oborze,'' ''Dopomagaj, Panie Boże.'' ''Adder’s tongue, adder’s tongue,'' ''I bravely collect you,'' ''With five fingers, with the sixth hand;'' ''Let boys chase me,'' ''Around the barn, around the shed,'' ''Let God help.''

Blooming ferns

Fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s are not

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 ...

s, but the myth may be rooted in a reality when the grouping of plants was not exactly the same as the modern taxonomy. Numerous flowering plants resemble ferns, or have fern-like foliage, and some open flowers during nighttime."Saint John's Wreaths and Fern Flower"
Some true ferns, like '' Osmunda regalis'', have

sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

in tight clusters (termed "fertile fronds") which may appear in flower-like clusters and so be commonly known as "flowering ferns".

Notes

References

{{Slavic mythology Mythological plants Slavic mythology Baltic mythology Flowers in religion Summer solstice