Wedding songs in Vuk Karadžic s compilations: functions and meanings of plants

Different species of plants (basil, apple, maple, grapevine, olive, rose...) appear in more than one third of wedding songs included in the Karadžić’s compilation of wedding poetry. These plants appear in various situations: they are planted and grown, given away as a gift, used to awaken somebody, etc. In this paper, examples of these are analysed and related to various phases of the rites of passage, with the intention to identify various meanings and functions of plants which are characteristic for Serbian wedding poetry.