Meet the plants: black-eyed susan
“We have a system of justice in [the US] that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.” - Bryan Stevenson.
Rudbeckia Hirta
Carolus Linnaeus, “the father of taxonomy”, named this plant after his teacher, Olof Rudbeck, who founded the botanical garden at Uppsala University in Sweden. Linnaeus had just written a paper on the sexuality of plants which was condemned by the Bishop of Carlisle for its “gross purience.” Linnaeus refers to the pistil as the husband, the stamen as the wife, and the flower as the marriage bed of the plant, rendering botany as X-rated in 1808. Rudbeck, however, supported Linnaeus’ innovative thinking and is commemorated by the exquisite and prolific flower. Linnaeus wrote, “I have chosen a noble plant in order to recall your merits and the services you have rendered [...] Its rayed flowers will bear witness that you shone among savants like the sun among the stars; its perennial roots will remind us that each year sees you live again through new works. Pride of our gardens, the Rudbeckia will be cultivated throughout Europe and in distant lands” (from Blunt’s Linnaeus, The Compleat Naturalist). Rudbeck, who enjoyed 3 wives and fathered 24 children loved Linnaeus’ approach and was said to rejoice in the commemoration.
Rudbeckia is native to the Americas, and is used as a medicinal herb in several tribal nations. In those cultures it is believed to be a remedy for colds, flu, infection, swelling and for snake bites (although some parts of the plants are poisonous).
In the language of flowers, floriography, Rudbeckia symbolizes justice. Perhaps because it appears to bloom without prejudice in all types of terrains, or because its flowers, when cut, will last for weeks in water with dignity. The plant also has deep roots — it’s one of many plants known as clay-busters — and like justice, grows deep and secures life.
Black Eyed Susans at solitary gardens (Mary’s favorite)
Black Susans have come to symbolize justice- a word that has all too often been prescribed for us. How do you describe justice? Is justice finite or abstract?
Is justice served in an all-or-nothing system where an individual is either fully guilty or innocent? Think of cases like that of George Zimmerman, who openly admitted to killing a seventeen year-old boy. He killed a child yet was “innocent” in the eyes of the law. Does this system create a model for accountability? Does it create space for personal evolution, atonement, or forgiveness?
What could a model of justice look like that allows for an admission of guilt, remorse, growth, and transformation?
Are there places in the world or in history that have not relied on a fixed binary to prescribe justice? How do those systems work? What are some of the outcomes?