1. My grandmother grew up in rural Ireland and had a considerable knowledge of the properties of plants … there were many superstitious beliefs … any flower with spots such as mimulus [monkeyflower] and certain lilies were not to be given to another person as the spots represented illness and were seen as ill-wishing the recipient. I suppose this was a hangover from the days when diseases such as smallpox were more common [e-mail, March 2024].

2. From an elderly friend in Porthnockie, about 30 miles east of Burghead: local plant names … mappies’ mous, or doggies’ mous – mimulus [Edinburgh, December 1991].

Image: The Secret Garden, Crystal Palace, London Borough of Croydon, July 2024.