the plant world in romanian traditions. symbols and uses

The plant world has always been a base for the Romanian culture, both for material culture (practical uses) and for the spiritual one (myth and symbols). Authors who wrote on ethnographic subjects chose to talk only about a certain side or branch of the vast subject of nature/vegetation. After studying the subject it became obvious that every research on the practical aspects of using plants can not detach itself from the spiritual component, from the myth, which in the popular Romanian tradition is omnipresent, regardless of time and space. Research (in the office and on the field) demonstrates that in the Romanian village myth merges with reality. Nevertheless, we still don’t have a complete paper which talks about the plant world in the traditional Romanian culture in a global way, integrating various uses and ways of interpreting its meanings, tracing a clear classification, which comprises all elements. This paper is a trial of „sketching” such classification, taking into consideration main features – for a better understanding of all the sides of this strong and complex relationship between the Romanian peasant and nature.