four missionary plants

Last week, I saw Doug Darnowski, a biology professor at IUS, give a talk on four plants that have been (or could be) used by missionaries to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people.

-Shamrock
-Passion Flower
-Glastonbury Thorn
-Flowers in the Shroud of Turin

St. Patrick, famously, used the three leaves of this clover-like plant to describe the Trinity.

The Passion Flower has various features that make it conducive to aspects of the crucifixion.

The Glastonbury Thorn is perhaps the only living relic-- and a tree that stems from a traditional story about the missionary work of Joseph of Arimithea in England. (I had never heard of that before!) For more on the GT, click here.

The flowers in the Shroud are particularly interesting in that 29 of the 30 types of pollen grains are indigenous to Jerusalem in March/April.