Mysteries...

A final photo of the Chimaphila flowers on the Tile. They are amazingly detailed representations of the two plants mentioned.
Cheima is greek for winter, and Philos for lover. There are five species of this evergreen plant of which Umbrellata is found in the Northern Hemisphere.
They are now classed in the family Ericacea, instead of Pyrolaceae.
Pipsisewa is Cree for breaks into small pieces, so i guess the plant is delicate.
http://www.herbsguide.net/princes-pine.html

Diplotaxis Muralis is called Wall Rocket. I found it on the plants for a future database. Its leaves can be eaten as a peppery salad leaf, or they can be used as a condiment, or added to cooked food. Hence Wall Mustard. It must have be found commonly growing under the shelter of walls.
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Diplotaxis+muralis
It has been naturalised in Southern Britain. It flowers from June to September.
The question for me is how did they end up on a kithen windowill in a flat in Wakefield? The previous occupants or the handyman have painted over the windowsill with the paint that formed a layer of protection.....
Guess What I managed to Track down? The set that these two hidden beautys came from.
http://www.artontiles.com/Decals51.html
There are a Set of Six Botanical pictures: Alchemilla vulgaris, Chimapila umbelata, Veronica anagallis aquatica, Diplotaxis muralis, and Rumex conglomeratus. $54 for six six inch tiles with the Ceramic Design kilned onto the tile permenantly.
The Mystery deepens. Two tiles out of a set of Six. I wander if the other four were Broken or are they beneath the painted tiles that surround the sink?
I cant find any UK supplier of the six designs from Artontiles.Im happy I found them beneath the covering paint.
Leave a comment if you have the set of six, and where you bought them from.

The Final Secret Tile

I looked along the windowsill, and did a little more scratching to see if any more works of art were beneath the White/orange paint.I thought it was like Brown flowers.

I used a butter knife this time to uncover Another Botanical tile. Once uncovered it was named Chimapila Umbellata:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimaphila_umbellata







It says it is commonly called Pippisewa, or Princes pine, and is a flavouring used in candy and Root beer.

Here are the details of the flowers.It says the flowers are usually pink or white.
These look Chocolate coloured to me :)







The Roots, leaves, and Botanical name! Two strangely exotic plants hand painted on kitchen tiles, then painted over.

Waiting for me to knock off some paint to realise there was something beneath worth uncovering.

I am still researching both plants on google. Do you know any of them at all? Why were these plants used and not common garden herbs or vegetables?

Secrets Beneath The Paint 2