The Plants and Flowers of the FIFA World Cup 2018*

The World Cup is here, if I’m perfectly honest with you, it actually snuck up on me! I didn’t follow any qualifying matches and even now I only know when England is playing and specifically watch those matches, more because LM loves them and gets super into supporting England (no idea how that happened).

However, the football side of things may not be for you. So instead, how much do you know about the countries competing, their cultures and national treasures? Suttons, a leading retailer of crocus bulbs, has brought together a collection of this tournament’s top teams to explore their national and native flowers and why they hold such status…

England & the Tudor Rose
Not sure about England being a top team, but they are our team so they seem to be a good place to start.

For centuries England has been associated with the red Tudor rose. If you’re behind on your history of England, here is a quick summary. After the War of the Roses (a civil war that lasted many years)  Henry of House Lancaster defeated Richard of House York who was the current reigning king and the rule of the Tudors began, which we all know from school lasted until the death of Elizabeth I. Henry VII then married Elizabeth of York uniting the two houses. The flower was adopted as a symbol of peace due to the fact that it was a mix of the red rose (an emblem of the victorious House of Lancaster) and the white rose (an emblem of the defeated House of York).

Japan & the Cherry Blossom (Sakura)
Although the cherry blossom can be found acrosss the world, it has always been strongly associated with Japan and is considered it’s national flower.

The cherry blossom is called sakura in Japan and is a flower of significant importance to the Japanese people and their culture. The Japanese cherry blossom symbolises human existence to the Japanese, and centuries ago, they would plant cherry blossom trees to claim land for their home country. During the period in which cherry blossom is in full bloom in Japan, a time also known as hanami, thousands of people in Japan flock to parks to eat, drink and listen to music as a way of celebrating the flowering trees.

Spain & the Red Carnation
Carnations can come in many colours, but it’s the red one that is strongly linked to Spain. If you’ve visited Spain you’ll probably have seen it decorating homes and even food. The plant has been used for centuries in Spanish culture. Flamenco dancers would put a red carnation in their hair during their routine. The plant is also used in bullfighting and religious events, mainly due to its bold shade and association with love, romance and the passion of Christ.

Australia & the Eucalyptus Tree
When ever I think of Australia and the plants there, I automatically think of Eucalyptus trees with a token koala clinging to the branches. Although Eucalyptus now grows all over the world, nearly every single kind is native to Australia. In fact, the country is reportedly home to 92,000,000 hectares of it!

Peru & Machi Picchu Bamboo (Chusquea Delicatula)
So the four plants and flowers associated with each country, I could have made educated guesses at, but through my research I found a couple I had no idea about, the first being the Machu Picchu bamboo, also know as Chusquea Delicatula.

Peru, on the western coast of South America, has around 28 of the 32 global climates alongside 84 of the 104 worldwide ecosystems. It’s also home to around 10% of the world’s plant species and 20% of the world’s butterfly species. So, it’s no surprise that there’s a selection of rare greenery that is found here and nowhere else — and one of these is the Machu Picchu bamboo (Chusquea delicatula), which grows in the Peruvian section of the Andes in locations near the ancient Machu Picchu site. This bamboo species is extremely rare with a very delicate texture but can be spotted by the many tourists that head to the famous ancient settlement year after year.

France & the Iris
Before looking into the national flowers for this piece, I genuinely though the Fleur-de-Lis was a particular flower, not just a symbol based on their actual national flower, the Iris.

The iris has had strong ties with the nation since the 12th century, when King Louis VII adopted it as an official sign of royalty. But today, the flower is used in the flags of Quebec in Canada and Saint Louis in the US state of Missouri. These were both originally French settlements many years ago. To this day the iris is still planted in many French gardens.

Most countries have their own national flower associated with their heritage, these are just a few of my favourites!