Clan Plants Worn By the Highlanders
Clan plants were worn on the men’s bonnets as a means of identity. In a heated battle, you had to know at a glance whether a man was friend or foe.So the Highlanders began wearing sprigs of local plants to identify themselves. Everyone came to know knew who wore which plant. Many of the Scots opted for sprigs from trees like oak, Scots pine, or hazel. Juniper, rowan and birch were also popular plants. Others chose among Scottish wildflowers for their plant badges. Clans and their PlantsAnstruther ~ sprig of Olive Armstrong ~ Wild Thyme
Borthwick ~ a stem of two Roses Boyd ~ Laurel Brodie ~ Lesser Periwinkle Bruce ~ Rosemary Buchan ~ Sunflower Buchanan ~ Birch other Buchanan clans plants ~ Blaeberry, Bilberry, Oak or Wild Laurel Burnett ~ a sprig of Holly leaves
Cameron ~ Cranberry other Cameron clan plants ~ Crowberry or Oak Campbell ~ Fir Club Moss or Bog Myrtle Campbell of Argyle ~ Fir Club Moss Campbell of Breadalbane ~ Bog Myrtle other Campbell of Breadalbane ~ Roid, Sweet Gale or Fir Club Moss Campbell of Cawdor ~ Bog Myrtle Campbell of Loudoun ~ Bog Myrtle Chattan ~ Red Whortle Berry Chisholm ~ Rainneach or Fern Colquhoun ~ Hazel sapling or Bear Berry Cranston ~ a bunch of Strawberries Cumming ~ Cumin (probably Wheat)
Davidson ~ Red Whortle Berry Drummond ~ Thyme or Holly
Elliott ~ White Hawthorn Erskine ~ Red Rose
Farquharson ~ Red Whortle Berry or Scots Fir seedling Ferguson ~ Little Sunflower other Furguson clan plants ~ Poplar seedling or Pine Forbes ~ Common Broom Forsyth ~ Forsythia flower Fraser ~ Yew tree Fraser of Lovat ~ Yew Fraser of Saltoun ~ Fraise
Gayre ~ Variegated Bay or Noble Laurel Gordon ~ Rock Ivy Graeme, Graham ~ Laurel Spruge Grant ~ Pine Grierson ~ stem of Bluebells Gunn ~ Juniper bush
Hannay ~ Periwinkle
Hay ~ Mistletoe, Oak sap
Henderson ~ stem of Cotton Grass
Home ~ Broom
Hunter ~ stem of Thrift, Shore Daisy
Innes ~ Great Bulrush
Jardine ~ sprig of Apple Blossom Johnston ~ Red Hawthorn
Keith ~ White Rose Kennedy ~ Oak Kerr ~ Kerr knot
Lamond ~ Dryas Lamont ~ sprig of Crab Apple Lennox ~ Rose Leslie ~ Rue in flower Lindsay ~ Lime Tree Logan ~ Conis Whin or Furse Lumsden ~ sprig of Hazel
MacAllister, as MacDonalds ~ Common Heath Mac Alpine ~ Scots Pine MacArthur, as Campbells ~ Fir Club Moss other MacArthur clan plants ~ Roid, Sweet Gale or Wild Thyme MacAulay ~ Pine or Cranberry
Mac Bain ~ Boxwood Mac Bean ~ Red Whortle Berry Mac Callum ~ Mountain Ash Mac Coll ~ Common Heath Mac Donald ~ Scottish Heather Mac Donald of Clanranald ~ Common Scottish Heather Mac Donald of Garagach ~ Common Heath Mac Donald of Glengarry ~ Scottish Heather Mac Donald of Glenco ~ Common Heath Mac Donald of the Isles ~ Common Heath Mac Donald of Keppach ~ Common Heath Mac Donald of Ranald ~ Common Heath Mac Donald of Sleat ~ Scottish Heather Mac Donnell ~ Common Heath Mac Dougall ~ Bell Heath, Tufted Heather Mac Dowall ~ sprig of Oak Mac Duff ~ Red Whortle Berry, Cowberry other MacDuff clan plants ~ Oak or Holly Mac Dugal ~ Bell Heath Mac Farlane ~ Cloudberry or Cranberry Mac Fie of Cameron ~ Crowberry other MacFie clan plants ~ Oak or Scots Pine
Mac Gallery ~ Common Heath Mac Gillivray ~ Red Whortleberry Mac Gregor ~ Pine
Mac Innes ~ Holly or Thistle Mac Intire ~ Common Heath Mac Intosh ~ Common Heath other MacIntosh clan plants ~ Red Whortleberry or Bearberry Mac Intyre ~ Scottish White Heather Mac Ivor ~ Fir Club Moss, Roid or Sweet Gale Mac Kay ~ Broom or Great Bulrush Mac Kenzie ~ Holly or Stag Horn Club Moss Mac Kinnon ~ Pine other MacKinnon clan plants ~ St. Columba’s Flower (St. John’s Wort) or Pine
Mac Lachlan ~ Lesser Periwinkle or Rowan Mac Laine of Lochbuie ~ Blackberry or Bramble Mac Laren ~ Laurel MacLaughten ~ Trailing Azalea, Little Scottish Plant Mac Laurin ~ Wild Laurel Mac Lean ~ Holly bush or Crowberry Mac Lennan ~ Furze (Whin) Mac Leod ~ Juniper bush Mac Leod of Lewis ~ Red Whortleberry
Mac Millan ~ Holly seedlings Mac Millan of Buchanan ~ Wild Laurel
Mac Nab ~ Pine, Stone Bramble, or Roebuckberry Mac Nachtan ~ Trailing Azalea Mac Naughton ~ Trailing Azalea Mac Neil of Barra ~ Dryas, Mountain Avens Mac Nichol ~ sprig of Juniper or Trailing Azalea Mac Niel ~ Dryas
Mac Pharlan ~ Cranberry bush Mac Phee ~ Red Whortle Berry Mac Phee of Cameron ~ oak Mac Pherson ~ Red Whortle Berry or White Heather
Mac Quarie ~ Pine Mac Quarrie ~ Scots Pine Mac Queen ~ Red Whortleberry other MacQueen clan plants ~ Boxwood or Scottish Heather
Mac Rae ~ Common Club Moss other MacRae clan plants ~ Staghorn Moss or Fir Club Moss
Mac Thomas ~ Snowberry plants
Maitland ~ Honeysuckle, Uilleann
Malcolm ~ Rowan berries
Matheson ~ four petal Rose
Menzie ~ Menzies’ Heath
Moncreiffe ~ Oak
Morrison ~ Driftwood
Munro ~ Common Club Moss
Murray ~ Butcher’s Broom
Murray of Atholl ~ Juniper or Butcher’s
Broom
Ogilvie ~ Evergreen Alkanet or Hawthorn Oliphant ~ Bulrush or Sycamore
Robertson ~ Fine-Leaved Heath or Bracken Rose ~ Wild Rosemary Ross ~ Juniper bush
Scott ~ Bilberry Scrimgeour ~ Rowan Seton ~ Yew Shaw ~ Red Whortle Berry Sinclair ~ Furze or Whin other Sinclair clan plants ~ White Dutch Clover, Conis or Gorse Stewart ~ Thistle, Oak Sutherland ~ Butcher’s Broom or Cotton Sedge plant
Urquhart ~ Native Wallflower
Wallace ~ sprig of Oak Wedderburn ~ Beech
Scientific Names of Highland Clan Plants
Bear Berry, Arbutus uva ursi
Bell Heath, Tetralix
Bilberry, Vaccinium ugilinosum
Broom, Spartium scoparium
Butcher’s Broom, Ruscus occiliatus
Common Broom, Spartium scorparium
Common Club Moss, Lycopodium clavatum
Common Heath, Erica vulgeris
Cranberry, Oxycossus palustris
Dryas, Octopetala
Evergreen Alkanet, Anchusa
Fine-Leaved Heath, Erica cinerea
Fir Club Moss, Lycopodium selago
Furse, Ulex europeus
Gorse, Ulex Europeoeus
Holly, Ilex aquifolium
Juniper, Juniperis communis
Laurel spruge, Laureola
Lesser Periwinkle, Pervinca major
Little Sunflower, Helian thymum marifolium
Native Wallflower, Cheiranthus
Pine, Pinus Sylvestris
Rainneach, Filix
Red Whortle Berry, Vaccinium vitus idea
Rock Ivy, Hedera helix
Scottish Heather, Erica vulgeris
Thistle, Carduus
Thyme, Thymus surplus
Trailing Azalea, Azalea procumbent
Wild Laurel, Laureola
Wild Rosemary, Andromeda media
Yew, Taxus baccata
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