We dedicate this episode to Elisabeth Christina Linné’s observation of the flickering nasturtium flowers and explore the history and findings behind this phenomenon.

In the interview with Annika Windahl Pontén you will discover
– The discovery that Elisabeth Christina Linné made more than 250 years ago about nasturtium.
– How and why that discovery influenced English Romantic poetry.
– What such a discovery meant for a 19-year-old woman at that time.
– How her discovery was explained first 150 years later.

Shownotes and resources

The original publication by Elisabeth Christina Linné in the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Annika Windahl Pontén’s PhD thesis about the Identity and materiality in the household of Linné

Other resources about the Linné family:
Biography: Gunnar Brobergs “Mannen som ordnade naturen. En biografi över Carl von Linné“, Natur&Kultur, 2019.

Fiction: Christina Wahldéns “Den som jag trodde skulle göra mig lycklig“.

And for visiting Linné Hammarby and the Linnean garden in Uppsala there are resources here and here
Even the Swedish Linné Society and the Linnean Society in London have useful information available.

You can also listen to the Flora and Friends podcast on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast and Deezer .