Pages

Friday, April 19, 2024

Bergamo Wall Plant – Papaver rhoeas (Poppy)

A single poppy - bright spot on the wall A poppy plant grows out of the base of a wall Poppies in a see of green spilling out over a stone wall
Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) in Bergamo, Italy - growing on walls.

“Walls, huh, yeah
What are they good for?
Growing everything!”

Sung to the tune of War, an anthem made famous by Edwin Star in 1970. Poppies (papaveri in Italian) - scientifically known as Papaver rhoeas – are a plant you find often growing in and on walls around Bergamo, Italy. In the last week, we’ve resumed our jogs along Via Torni and Via G. Marieni. We stopped to snap some photos because the poppies were so beautiful, and we needed a break.

The walls along the streets via Torni and via G Marieni – on the “backside” of Città Alta of Bergamo – are a good place to find many of the tag: wall plants we’ve covered in past posts. These streets (really think "country lane") remind us a lot of our time in 2007 – 2008 when we lived in Florence and went for walks in the low hills just south of the city, in Arcetri. In those hills, we would often walk by Villa Galileo - Part of an estate called "Il Gioiello" - where Galileo spent the last part of his life under house arrest.

Other than facile evocation of the "War" song because it popped (no pun intended) into our heads (both Wall and War with one syllable starting with W), poppies do relate thematically in that they have become a symbol of remembrance and honor of those that have died in war.


A single poppy pushes above the other wall plants A single poppy sticks out from the grass atop a wall Three poppies on Via Marieni - Bergamo
Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) in Bergamo, Italy - growing on walls along Via Torni and Via G. Marieni.

Clean walls but no plants - Part of Via G. Marieni - Bergamo Poppies along Via Torni - Bergamo
Via Marieni (left) and Via Torni (right)  in Bergamo, Italy - a nice country lane for a walk or run.


A list of our wall plants we've seen in Bergamo thus far:

  • [Papavero] Papaver rhoeas - Common poppy
  • [Campanulaceae] Campanula poscharskyana (post) – Serbian Bellflower
  • [Plantaginaceae] Antirrhinum majus (post) - Common Snapdragon
  • [Crassulaceae[ Sedum palmeri (post)
  • [Crassulaceae] Sedum album and Sedum dasyphyllum (post) - White Stonecrop and Corsican Stonecrop
  • [Papavero] Fumaria officinalis (post) – Earth Smoke
  • [Brassicaceae] Aubrieta deltoidea - Purple Rock Cress and Iberis sempervirens - Evergreen Candytuft (post)
  • [Geraniaceae] Geranium robertianum (post) - Stinking Bob
  • [Asteraceae] Erigeron karvinskianus (post) - Mexican Fleabane
  • [Aspleniaceae] Asplenium ceterach (post) - Rustyback Fern
  • [Aspleniaceae] Asplenium ruta-muraria (post) - Wall Rue
  • [Aspleniaceae] Asplenium trichomanes (post) - Maidenhair spleenwort
  • [Urticaceae] Parietaria diffusa (post) – Pellitory
  • [Plantaginaceae] Cymbalaria muralis (post) - Pennywort

No comments:

Post a Comment

All comments go through a moderation process. Even though it may not look like the comment was accepted, it probably was. Check back in a day if you asked a question. Thanks!