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8 plants worth knowing

Lithuania

Lithuania is a lowland country with rolling lake districts in the east and a short but exceptional coastline with the Curonian Spit. Forests, mainly of pine, spruce and birch, cover about a third of its area, and in the south, in Dzūkija, extensive pinewoods spread over sandy soils. The Lithuanians were the last nation in Europe to adopt Christianity, which is why the cult of sacred trees and herbs is still alive in their folklore today.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Common rue 1

    shrub · National flower of Lithuania

    Common rue

    Ruta graveolens

    For Lithuanians rue symbolises maidenly innocence – in the old wedding ritual the bride’s wreath of rue was removed.
  2. Pedunculate oak 2

    tree · Sacred tree of the god Perkūnas; symbol of the nation’s strength

    Pedunculate oak

    Quercus robur

    The tree of the thunder god Perkūnas – Lithuania’s oldest oak, at Stelmužė, is estimated to be over a thousand years old.
  3. Flax 3

    crop

    Flax

    Linum usitatissimum

    Blue fields of flax and linen cloth are a Lithuanian tradition – for centuries flax was one of the country’s main exports.
  4. Scots pine 4

    tree

    Scots pine

    Pinus sylvestris

    The pinewoods of Dzūkija are famous for mushrooms and bilberries, and pines on the Curonian Spit halted the wandering dunes.
  5. Norway spruce 5

    tree

    Norway spruce

    Picea abies

    The heroine of Lithuania’s most famous fairy tale, “Eglė, Queen of Serpents”, turns into a spruce at the end of the story.
  6. Rye 6

    crop

    Rye

    Secale cereale

    Dark rye bread – juoda ruginė duona – is a symbol of the Lithuanian home, offered to welcome guests and newlyweds.
  7. Silver birch 7

    tree

    Silver birch

    Betula pendula

    Lithuanians have drunk spring birch sap – beržų sula – for generations, and the birch is one of the tree heroes of the tale of Eglė, Queen of Serpents.
  8. Small-leaved lime 8

    tree

    Small-leaved lime

    Tilia cordata

    The Lithuanian word for July – liepa – comes from the lime tree, which in old beliefs was the tree of women and of Laima, goddess of fate.