Heather: Norway’s Floral Emblem | Translation Agency Blog

Hello again, Naho here. Summer's long gone and it's that time of the year gain. If autumn comes, can winter be far behind?

I'm terribly sensitive to cold weather. Norway's national flower heather, however, grows strong even in the most extreme of environments. In this blog post I would like to write about the secrets to the sturdiness of the flower that blooms vigorously on the heathlands of Europe and how that relates to the Norwegians and their values.

Heathers are extremely cold-tolerant, and depending on the species, some can even survive at below-freezing temperatures. It is said the name of the flower stems from such hardiness - heather for heath.

Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights, considered as one of the greatest tragedies in English literature, is set in a moorland where the farmhouse of Wuthering Heights is located. It is on such desolate, barren lands that the flower of heather grows, full of passion and vigor despite nature's adversity.

Unsuitable for cultivation or stock-raising, moorlands often lie wasted, making it hard for loaded wagons to travel through. However, in moors where heathers grow, the condition of soil erosion is much less severe, leading to smoother journeys for travelers. What lovely flowers to bring life and human activities to wasted lands!

Home to the heather, Norway's climate conditions can be considered quite extreme. However, the country is not just about rocky hills but rather a collection of unique geographic landscapes, with some of the world's most magnificent fjords that are not to be found elsewhere.

Fjords are formed by glacier erosion cutting through the surrounding bedrock, and the magnificence of Norwegian fjords features a combined coastline of two and a half times the Earth's circumference. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Norway's Geiranger fjord is said to be among the world's deepest.

Native to Europe, heathers are resistant to cold but sensitive to heat. High humidity should be avoided when growing heathers, and they thrive even in moisture-lacking soil. Staying strong against the dreariest of environments, maybe it was that perseverance that gave the flower such great respect in Norway.

Heathers are rich in Arbutin, an element widely known for its effectiveness in skin tone lightening. In Norway, an increasing number of organic cosmetics brands are using Arbutin as an active component in their products.

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