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Flower Language

Interesting, isn’t it, how the peonies bare shame?

And how the yellow carnations turn inward with self-disappointment?

Morning comes, and the blue hyacinths, they bloom a heartfelt sincerity with the purple hyacinths, whom bare sorrowful regret

Say, do you see the white and pink tulips? how the stems support repentant beginnings and honest concern?

Oh, the white orchids, how they wave in the wind with aftermath

Rue, then, the way the lilies of the valley hang with damaged bond

Rise with the pink lilies, their humility desiring to amend

Yet these flowers may be mere flowers, their meaning transcends

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flower language prompts ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🐚 ꒱

❀ calla lily (beauty) — “you’re so beautiful.”

❀ aloe (affection, also grief) — “i miss them so much.”

❀ basil (good wishes) — “i just want the best for you.”

❀ begonia (beware) — “just be careful, okay?”

❀ gardenia (secret love) — “i don’t love you any less just because no one else can see it.”

❀ red chrysanthemum (i love you) — “i love you. please don’t forget that.”

❀ red columbine (anxiety) — “can you hold my hand? please?”

❀ daffodil (unequaled love) — “no one will ever come close to you.”

❀ edelweiss (courage, devotion) — “touch them again and i promise, it will be the last thing you ever do.”

❀ candytuft (indifference) — “i said that i didn’t care, but i lied.”

❀ holly (domestic happiness) — “i never want to leave this bed.”

❀ myrtle (marriage) — “i can’t believe it. we’re really married!”

❀ oak (strength) — “you’re stronger than you think.”

❀ aster (symbol of love, daintiness) — “i’m not fragile, y’know.”

❀ arborvitae (unchanging friendship) — “i’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”

❀ blue salvia (i think of you) — “here. this made me think of you.”

❀ yarrow (everlasting love) — “i don’t think i’ll ever stop loving you.”

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Viburnum tinus

(Laurestine)

(Image from William Curtis' The Botanical Magazine, 1788)

History and Etymology: The laurestine belongs to a large genus of Viburnum plants, all of which share a similar color and shape. Laurestine in particular was named for the way its leaves are similarly shaped to bay laurels. The word "tinus" means "snowball" in Latin. Don't just search "tinus", though. I got shown a spider. :/

Flower Symbolism: The laurestine flower's meaning is "I die if neglected." It's a touch rare for flowers to have a negative context with no positive counterpart, but laurestine does it.

Fun Facts:

Laurestine is native to the Mediterranean, namely Greece and coastal Turkey. It has been introduced to several other continents like Australia and North America, and now grows there naturally.

Viburnum tinus grows a blue berry from its flowers. These fruits have a property that can ease constipation in herbal medicine.

The laurestinus bush can grow up to 10 feet tall, and blooms even through colder temperatures. The leaves are evergreen, as well.

Sources below

Image: The Botanical Magazine by William Curtis History and Etymology: Viburnum tinus Wiki and Etymonline Flower symbolism: Dale Harvey Meaning of Flowers index Fun facts: Viburnum tinus Wiki and The Garden Style

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Astragalus genus

(Milkvetch)

(Image by Anne Pratt from The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain, 1855)

History and Etymology: The astragalus genus refers to thousands of species of flowers and shrubs. The flowers all typically have the same petal shape, although they come in a large variety of colors. These flowers are often different kinds of Milkvetches, named from when they were used to improve goat milk production from all the way back in the middle ages.

Flower Symbolism: Despite the large variety of flower species, milkvetch flowers all typically share the same meaning, unless you're feeling particularly obtuse. These flower mean "your presence softens my pains," finding comfort in a loved one. I nicknamed my partner with this flower <3.

Fun Facts:

There is an ankle bone in humans and several mammals, like deer, called Astragalus. It is also called the talus bone. This bone is known for being taken from dead animals and used as playing dice, or even as a fortune telling tool!

The word astragal is a type of wall moulding, which has small waves on the sides before coming to the center in a half-circle.

Astragalus plants are legumes, which is the same family as peas or beans! Astragalus is the largest genus of this family, with over 3,000 species.

Sources below

Image: Internet Archive copy of The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain History and Etymology: Astragalus plant Wiki and Etymonline Flower Symbolism: Dale Harvey Meaning of Flowers index Fun facts: Etymonline, astragalus bone Wiki, and Fabaceae Wiki

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Astragalus genus

(Milkvetch)

(Image by Anne Pratt from The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain, 1855)

History and Etymology: The astragalus genus refers to thousands of species of flowers and shrubs. The flowers all typically have the same petal shape, although they come in a large variety of colors. These flowers are often different kinds of Milkvetches, named from when they were used to improve goat milk production from all the way back in the middle ages.

Flower Symbolism: Despite the large variety of flower species, milkvetch flowers all typically share the same meaning, unless you're feeling particularly obtuse. These flower mean "your presence softens my pains," finding comfort in a loved one. I nicknamed my partner with this flower <3.

Fun Facts:

There is an ankle bone in humans and several mammals, like deer, called Astragalus. It is also called the talus bone. This bone is known for being taken from dead animals and used as playing dice, or even as a fortune telling tool!

The word astragal is a type of wall moulding, which has small waves on the sides before coming to the center in a half-circle.

Astragalus plants are legumes, which is the same family as peas or beans! Astragalus is the largest genus of this family, with over 3,000 species.

Sources below

Image: Internet Archive copy of The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain History and Etymology: Astragalus plant Wiki and Etymonline Flower Symbolism: Dale Harvey Meaning of Flowers index Fun facts: Etymonline, astragalus bone Wiki, and Fabaceae Wiki

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any information about belladonna?

Atropa belladonna

(Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade)

(Image by William Curtis from the Flora Lodinensis, 1777)

History and Etymology: Atropa belladonna was named by Carl Linnaeus, the man who invented our current system of naming organisms. It was named for one of the Greek fates, Atropos, the sister who cut the string of life. "Belladonna," meaning "beautiful women," was used due to the plant's recreational use for cosmetics in the renaissance.

Flower Symbolism: While the plant itself is widely known for being a poison, the symbolism behind it is often not aligned with its use. Meanings of belladonna are often silence or sleep, which can still be attributed to death and poisoning, but I digress.

Fun Facts:

During the renaissance and as early recorded as the days of Cleopatra, women may have added the juice of belladonna berries to eyedrops in order to dilate the pupils more.

Along with being extremely poisonous, belladonna was also used as an anesthetic through the Roman and Islamic empires.

Belladonna is listed as being the weapon of choice for several murders and assassinations throughout history, namely emperors Augustus and Claudius by each of their wives.

Sources below

Image: Biodiversity Heritage Library copy of Flora Lodinensis History and Etymology: Atropa belladonna Wiki and Etymonline Flower Symbolism: Dale Harvey Meaning of Flowers index Fun facts: Atropa belladonna Wiki

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if anyone would like additional pictures of certain flowers do let me know

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twirling my hair could i perhaps request a post about primroses bestie :chininhands:

Primula vulgaris

(Common Primrose) (thank you for the ask gem ily)

(Image by Edward Step and Désiré Bois, from Favorite flowers of garden and greenhouse, 1897)

History and Etymology: This flower was named for the Latin word for prime, "primus," as primroses are among the first to bloom in the spring. "Vulgaris" is the Latin word for "common," because the vulgaris is the overarching species of primrose. The primrose is native to Europe and Asia, and is an evergreen flower in temperate places.

Flower Symbolism: Depending on the source and color, the primrose has a large variety of meanings, but all of them are positive. The overall and most common meaning seems to be along the lines of early love, devotion, and happiness. Some sources have different meanings for specific colors, like pink primroses being symbolic of womanhood.

Fun Facts:

There are several subspecies of primrose, but only a few are widely recognized by botanists, like the Primula vulgaris sibthorpii, which colors more in the red to purple range.

The definition of a primrose shuffled a lot, over the years. It started as a large overarching identifier of many flowers in the 12th century, but was settled as the current definition we have in 1844.

You may think of the phrase "a primrose path" - this was coined by Shakespeare in his plays Hamlet and Macbeth. What the phrase means is the path of least resistance, sometimes thought of as taking the easy way out.

Sources below

Image: Biodiversity Heritage Library copy of Favorite flowers of garden and greenhouse Etymology: Primula vulgaris Wiki and Etymonline Fun facts: Phrases.org and Etymonline History: Primula vulgaris Wiki, Etymonline Flower Symbolism: Dale Harvey Meaning of Flowers index

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Helianthus annus

(Common Annual Sunflower)

(Image by John Miller from the Illustratio systematis sexualis Linnaeani, 1804)

History and Etomology: The sunflower was named in the 1560s, after the Greek word helios, meaning "sun", and the Greek word for flower, "anthos". The sunflower is a heliotrope, which is any plant that face the sun.

Flower Symbolism: The sunflower, specifically the common sunflower, symbolizes adoration, loyalty, and well wishes. Different kinds of sunflowers like the dwarf or the perennial have slightly different meanings, but all sunflowers typically share at least this base symbolism.

Fun Facts:

Sunflowers can grow up to 300 centimeters (nearly 10 feet!) tall

The disk, or center of a sunflower is technically made up of many tiny flowers, that are pretending to be one larger flower to attract more pollinators

Some people think Clytie, an Oceanid from Greek mythology, was turned into a sunflower. She was turned into a heliotrope, but typically not a sunflower. Depends on who you ask!

Sources below !

Image: Illutratio systematis sexualis linnaeani Etymology: Helianthus Wiki and Etymonline History and fun facts: Helianthus Wiki and Clytie Wiki Flower symbolism: Dale Harvey Flower Meanings

[hilumbarren]

welcome!

You can call me Helian. My pronouns are he/him and i am an adult.

This blog will be for posting about flowers, and possibly some architecture here and there. I'll include flower language, etymology, and fun facts when available.

Below will be a masterlist of every resource i use, including any images sourced from other places.

Background and banner: Veronika Galkina on Unsplash Icon: Morra O on Unsplash Description box icon: thepngpixie on tumblr (not sure if they want tagged or not so im not for now) General etymology: Etymonline Botanical books: Biodiversity Heritage Library

Flora Lordinensis by William Curtis Favorite flowers of garden and greenhouse by Edward Step (yes it is all lowercase in publishing yes it drives me crazy.)

Botanical Books: Internet Archive

Illustratio systematis sexualis linnaeani by John Miller Flora Lordinensis by William Curtis Favorite flowers of garden and greenhouse by Edward Step