Alm Torbjørn
Tromsø museum, University of Tromsø, PO Box 6050, Langnes, N-9037, Tromsø, Norway.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2015 Oct 5;11:72. doi: 10.1186/s13002-015-0056-9.
In their quest to understand and interpret nature, people have frequently sought religious or divine origins for plant species and their characteristics. Less often, historical events or persons are involved. This study comprises eleven cases of the latter kind, all claiming that plant species have been introduced by foreigners or at least from foreign lands.
Based on literature data and a few cases recorded during my own ethnobotanical field work, eleven European examples of pseudo-historical plant origins are presented here, including Cakile maritima, Cicuta virosa, Lathyrus japonicus, Leymus arenarius, Primula vulgaris, and Scopolia carniolica in Norway, Heracleum mantegazzianum and/or H. persicum in Denmark, Phoenix dactylifera and P. theophrastii in Greece, and Jacobaea vulgaris in Scotland.
The only common trait in these stories is that foreigner or at least foreign lands are claimed as sources of the plant species. In most cases, the "historical" explanations given in folk tradition are demonstrably at odds with reality. In those cases that involve poisonous or potentially harmful species (Cicuta virosa, Heracleum mantegazzianum and/or H. persicum, Jacobaea vulgaris), or the "useless" Phoenix theophrastii, with its inedible fruits, the stories may be interpreted as xenophobic, blaming foreigners for introducing dangerous or worthless species. The remaining examples merely suggest a search for exotic and seemingly rational, if erroneous, origins for plant species and stands that people considered strange and unusual.
The spreading vectors assumed in folk tradition are correct and well documented, e.g. ship cargos (including goods and packing materials), which are responsible for introducing ballast plants and other anthropochores, and wartime activities, introducing a broad range of species (polemochores). They do not, however, apply to the species included in this study, which are either indigenous plants or introduced ornamentals. The foreigners appearing in the folk tales serve mostly as suitably exotic explanations for what is perceived "alien" plants.
在试图理解和阐释自然的过程中，人们常常为植物物种及其特征寻找宗教或神圣的起源。而涉及历史事件或人物的情况则相对较少。本研究包含了后一种情况的11个案例，均称植物物种是由外国人引入的，或者至少来自外国。
基于文献资料以及我自己在民族植物学田野工作中记录的一些案例，这里呈现了11个关于植物伪历史起源的欧洲实例，包括挪威的滨海刺芹、毒芹、长荚香豌豆、沙生赖草、报春花和肉色紫堇，丹麦的巨型猪殃殃和/或波斯猪殃殃，希腊的海枣和蒂奥弗拉斯塔海枣，以及苏格兰的普通千里光。
这些故事中唯一的共同特征是声称植物物种的来源是外国人或至少是外国土地。在大多数情况下，民间传统中给出的“历史”解释明显与现实不符。在那些涉及有毒或潜在有害物种（毒芹、巨型猪殃殃和/或波斯猪殃殃、普通千里光），或者果实不可食用的“无用”蒂奥弗拉斯塔海枣的案例中，这些故事可以被解释为仇外心理，指责外国人引入了危险或无价值的物种。其余的例子仅仅表明人们在为那些被认为奇怪和不寻常的植物物种及植物群落寻找奇特且看似合理（尽管有误）的起源。
民间传统中假定的传播媒介是正确且有充分记录的，例如船舶货物（包括货物和包装材料），它们导致了压舱植物和其他人为传播植物的引入，以及战时活动，引入了广泛的物种（战争传播植物）。然而，它们并不适用于本研究中所包含的物种，这些物种要么是本土植物，要么是引入的观赏植物。民间故事中出现的外国人大多是对被视为“外来”植物的一种合适的奇特解释。
