At the time of Christ, women’s hair fashions were determined by both cultural practices and religious laws. Covering the hair with a scarf, veil or other fabric was considered a sign of modesty and was generally practiced by married women. The Bible makes no mention of Mary’s hair and focuses instead on her actions rather than her appearance in the stories in which she is a participant. By Renaissance times, however, Mary’s hair had become a symbol her purity, beauty, and divine motherhood. In the art of the period, her hair is sometimes covered with a veil which enhances her modesty and sanctity, and emphasizes her purity and virginity. The covering of her hair with a veil may suggest that her hair is untouched and remains holy.
Picture Credit: Botticelli
Native to meadows and pastures of Europe and Asia, quaking grass is a creeping perennial and a member of the grass family, Poaceae, that also includes wheat, rice, and bamboo. It is known by many names including cow-quake, didder, dodder-grass, earthquakes, jiggle-joggles, jockey-grass, lady’s-hair, maidenhair-grass, pearl grass, tottergrass, and wag-wantons. The narrow, erect semi-evergreen leaves form dense clumps that are 12-18″ tall. In spring, loose panicles of tiny greenish flowers appear well above the foliage so that the total height of the flowering plant is 24-36″. The panicles are composed of up to 20 branches with 60 spikelets and the flowers resemble rattlesnake tail segments. The purplish seed heads that follow turn tan with maturity and quiver in the slightest breeze.
The genus name, Briza, comes from the Greek word brizo meaning nod, and refers to the motion of the spikelet’s in a breeze. The specific epithet, media, is the Latin word meaning intermediate and probably refers to its size relative to other members of the genus.
Quaking grass likes full sun and average, moderately moist, well drained soil in USDA Hardiness Zones 4-8. Plants are generally healthy but don’t tolerate high high temperatures. Propagation is by division. Cut back immediately after flowering to encourage fresh growth
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons