Flowers as Currency

Flowers play important roles in many traditions at Sweet Briar. For example, daisies are carried up to monument hill to be placed on Daisy William’s grave, nature sanctuaries house a large number of flora, and the school is named after a type of rose. Therefore, I propose that Sweet Briar start using a new type of currency, one unique to Sweet Briar and relevant to her traditions. This currency would be created from species of flowers that grow on the Sweet Briar campus. Since flowers are already of some worth to the students, faculty, and staff from traditions, and the beauty of nature is also valued by most here, this will be a suitable currency.

            The flowers used will be grown on campus. They will be of the rose, daisy, and buttercup species. The types of roses used will be the multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), the pasture rose (Rosa carolina), and the sweet brier rose (Rosa eglanteria). The ox-eyed daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) and the hooked buttercup (Ranunculus recurvatus) will be the other flowers used.

In order for the flowers to last as currency, they will be pressed dry and placed between two square pieces of wax paper. The roses will be in wax paper that is two-and-a-half inches by two-and-a-half inches. The daisy will be in paper two inches by two inches, and the buttercup will be in paper an inch by an inch.

To make them truly Sweet Briar currency, a small piece of paper with the Sweet Briar emblem on it will be placed between the wax paper to the left of the flower. The Sweet Briar emblem itself recognizes the important families in the college’s history with the Fletcher and Amherst coats of arms, and it also presents the school motto. The motto mentions earning roses, another sign that the rose bears value, or at least symbolizes value, at Sweet Briar.

The values of the roses as currency are derived from several factors. The main factor is where the rose can be found on campus. The multiflora rose is found on at least 13 spots on campus, most of which are close to main campus. These spots include Guion Woods, Carry Nature Sanctuary, Williams Creek Sanctuary, and Monument Hill, along with growing in cleared areas such as fields and pastures. Because of its abundance and proximity to campus, the multiflora rose has the least value out of all the flowers. It also has little relevance to Sweet Briar traditions. One multiflora rose would be about equivalent to one dollar.

The daisy, however, plays important roles in Sweet Briar traditions, so even though it is also found in over 12 places on campus—mostly in the same places as the multiflora rose, it is valued more than the multiflora rose. Parents give their first-year daisies and daisies are carried up to Daisy’s grave, not to mention that Daisy is the ghost that haunts Sweet Briar. One daisy would be equivalent to five dollars.

The flower with the next value is the pasture rose, as it grows at 10 different places on campus, and is also more aesthetically pleasing than the multiflora rose. The pasture rose is bright pink as opposed to the white multiflora rose. In order to avoid confusion, it is important to note that the pasture rose is a darker pink than the Sweet Brier rose, which is a light pink. One pasture rose would be equivalent to ten dollars.

The second highest valued flower is the hooked buttercup, a flower that only grows in six spots on campus including Kentucky Ridge, Paul Mountain, and Williams Creek Sanctuary. These places are at the very edges of campus property and are far away from main campus. One buttercup would be relative to twenty dollars.

Lastly, the Sweet Brier rose holds the greatest value because it is both rare— growing in only three spots—and is also the namesake of the college. This particular rose is the college’s namesake because it was of value to Elijah Fletcher’s wife, Maria. One sweet brier rose would be equivalent to one hundred dollars.

A dinner at Prothro might be bought with one daisy; books would have to be purchased with a number of sweet brier roses; a parking ticket might have to be paid with a pasture rose or buttercup, depending on the severity. Of course, this entails the use of a huge number of these flowers, which may endanger them. That’s why the administration of Sweet Briar would be in charge of circulating the flowers, and would only create new currency during the late spring or early summer when the flowers were available. Care would have to be taken to make sure not too many flowers were cut from the plants, or, a green house could be provided for the purpose of growing these flowers. However, that takes away some of their value, which is partially derived from their location on campus.

The use of flowers as currency will probably not cause a huge differences between social and economic classes, although, the wealthier students may get to have more decorated wallets. Maybe the flowers will also be used as decoration when they are not being used for monetary transaction. If that is the case, then richer students will be able to do more decorating. A sign of wealth could be the use of the flower currency as bookmarks and dorm decorations.

Works Cited

Edwards, Ernest P. and Edwards, Mabel T. “An Annotated List of the Wild Vascular Plants of the Sweet Briar College Property.” Sweet Briar College Natural History Series. June 28, 1991. Web. September 9, 2012. <http://nature.sbc.edu/EdwardsEdwards1991_SBCPlantList.pdf>