[Question] What Bono has got in his hand?

[butter7]

Any one has any idea?

 

[Galeongirl]

it's a flower, I think one to put in your buttonhole as corsage

 

[U2Kitten]

Part of a flower. This was taken at his father's funeral. He took a flower from the gravesite

I don't know about Ireland, but in the US (at least among my country relatives) this is a very bad omen. If you take a flower from the grave of your loved one you will be the next to go. (old wives' tale)

 

[butter7]

Could flowers be that green?

 

[Galeongirl]

yes

 

[hcbiggs2002]

No you're quite right, it doesn't look like any flower I recognise, being a horticulturist by profession I know me flowers! It might be the part of the burial wreath, the ribbon or card that has the inscription on it and some of the greenery from said wreath came with it. From working at our church for the last 12 years or so, I've noticed it's common practice for the relatives to take the inscription ribbon or card off the wreath soon after the funeral service.

 

[Mirjam]

Hmmm...And why is that actually so important what Bono has got in his hand..?

sad photo, by the way...

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

it's a flower, I think one to put in your buttonhole as corsage

I did not see "buttonhole" the first time I read that... :

 

[Not_Worthy_Edge]

I know in this country we take the cards and inscriptions so we can put a notice in the local papers thanking everyone for their kind words and thoughts. It might be for that reason.

 

[biff]

It's rosemary. There's a very old tradition associating rosemary with remembrances of the dead. Mourners are given sprigs which they throw into the grave. This goes back hundreds of years.

 

[bonocomet]

It does look just like the rosemary we pick from our backyard and use in our cooking. I couldn't figure why he'd have that though so thanks for that info biff. Interesting!

 

[Cin]

I did not see "buttonhole" the first time I read that... :

 

[butter7]

Hmmm...And why is that actually so important what Bono has got in his hand..?

sad photo, by the way...

I posted this thread to ask not because it's important to know what he got in his hand, but I just wanted to know it.

You know, what I want isn't necessarily the most important.

And why I wonder?

This green object does look like something to me, and if you want to know what I thought it was, click here: http://www.comcao.com/csnew_view.asp?id=914

and I knew I was definitely wrong, therefore I want to know the right answer, so I post the question here. I believed that if I couldn't get a right answer from this forum, I couldn't get it any where else.

 

[butter7]

It's rosemary. There's a very old tradition associating rosemary with remembrances of the dead. Mourners are given sprigs which they throw into the grave. This goes back hundreds of years.

Thank you biff for the info. I've never knew that. I think this must be the correct explaination.

 

[Ikkin]

I did not see "buttonhole" the first time I read that... :

Me too! XD!!

-Nikki

 

[fly so high!]

Any one has any idea?

Looks like a dead frog
Pretty sure it is a flower also(a wilted one)......... poor Bono.....so sad...it could be rosemary....that would definately make sense....but Rosemary is alot thinner and more bushy not thick and dense like that.....i dunno.

 

[hcbiggs2002]

I do believe that is rosmary. Even though here in Finland it's an annual and barely grows bigger than 10 cm and never flowers but else where in Europe rosmary grows up to 1 to 2 metre high bushes!! And a twig off a rosmary bush does resemble a twig of certain species of spruce.

 

[CMM]

This is making me want to go out and run my hands though our rosemary bush.

 

[bonocomet]

^

Our rosemary bush got pretty big before heavy rains drowned it

But my husband who's the gardener around here also thinks that looks thick for rosemary, but there could be different types I suppose... so I dunno either!
(It's a great theory tho.)

 

[biff]

Sorry, but it's not a theory; it's definitely rosemary. I'm 100% certain about that. There were several other pictures of the funeral with people holding bundles of the same greenery. There is no doubt as to what it was. (And yes, in temperate climates, rosemary grows very big and thick and bushy. That's what it looks like.)

 

[bonocomet]

Mystery solved then. I had asked if it could be bundled to look thicker, or it could just be a thicker branch, they can get pretty big. Do you know what the actual tradition is? I mean what the purpose of using it in this way is?