Wild Garlic associations

I walked through a wood today

and tasted

wild garlic

tangy

rich;

It made me feel

connected.

 

Wild Garlic

Has the Latin name Allium ursinum.

 

Allium as it belongs to the onion family

and

Ursinum, as it is believed that once

when bears

wandered Europe

They would dig for the roots.

 

One of my favourite medical anecdotes

Relates to the use of the drug

With the beautiful name –

Ursodeoxycholic acid

used to treat

Primary biliary cirrhosis;

an auto-immune condition of the liver. (nothing to do with the drink).

 

Urso here refers also to bears

as

Their gall bladders used to be

Tapped

With a metal straw

To extract the liquor

for

therapeutic purposes;

Nowadays they can do this in the lab.

 

Ursula K. Le Guin, writer of science

Who died last year

And

Ursula Andress

Of James Bond fame

(still going strong at 83)

Are the most famous people I can think of

with

the bear

sobriquet;

 

And,

Ursa minor

And

major

That

As a boy

In a garden in Glasgow

My brother tried to explain;

 

Before the sky became too bright

To be black.