Focusing on plants directs attention to the lay of the land. It raises questions about the composition of the soil. It connects us to history, to prehistory, and to the mundane. Mundane is an underappreciated word. It gets used to describe things that are boring or trivial, but its synonym is terrestrial. Mundane comes from the Latin word for world, “munde.” It is related to “mundo” in Spanish and Portuguese, “monde” in French and “mondo” in Italian.
The mundane is the part of the trip we can really take home with us. The plants, the terrestrial citizens, are with us when we go home, or their North American relatives are.
Beyond the obvious things a tour of any European country should include - art, architecture, food, music - exploration of local plants provides another view of a place. The love of horticulture turns vacationers into explorers.
