Chelone obligata

Today's the day ........................... for some Greek mythology

The common name for this Chelone obligata is 'Turtlehead' - and you can see why. The shape of the flower looks exactly like the gaping mouth of a turtle or tortoise. It was one of the plants introduced into this country in the 18th century by the American Quaker botanist, John Bartram.

In Greek mythology, Chelone was a nymph who was changed into a tortoise by the gods. "Khelônê" means 'tortoise' in Greek. For his wedding with Hera, Zeus ordered Hermes to send out invitations to all and sundry. Everyone invited by Hermes came, except for Chelone who was taking too long to be ready for the feast. This caused Zeus to become angry. In retribution, he crashed her house over her, and thus condemned her to drag it round forever as a tortoise.

Sounds a bit harsh to me. A girl needs a bit of time to prepare for a special occasion, don't you think .............................................?