Categories: Gardening

Origins of Flower Names

We are often unaware of how common names of plants and flowers originated.

Columbine: The blue, purple, white, pink, and yellow inverted blossoms look like a cluster of five doves. Therefore, the word comes through the classical Latin “columba”, meaning “dove”.

Fox glove: The white and purple flowers look like the empty finger of a glove, though no one knows why “fox” was added! The dried leaves, ground into powder, are made into “digitalis” for the heart. “Diigitilis’ is a Latin word, from “digitus”, meaning finger.

Gentian: Four hundred species of this plant are known to grow in the Swiss Alps and Rockies. The root is used in medicines. According to the Roman Pliny, the flower was named for Gentius, king of Illyria, on the east coast of the Adriatic.

Geranium: The seed pod looks like the bill of a crane, so the name comes from the Greek “geranos”/crane. A popular variety is “pelargonium”; in Greek “pelargos” means “stork.”

Gladiolus: It is so called because the brilliant spikes of its flowers resemble the “gladius” or sword, carried by gladiators into the arena.

Hydrangea: It has showy flowers, and a seed capsule shaped like a cup/miniature water vessel. The name comes from the Greek words “hydr” (water) and angos (seed/capsule), so it suits a flower that looks like a “water” cup.

Iris: This plant has sword shaped leaves. The varied and striking colors of the large, handsome flowers are named for Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow. In France, it is called the “fleur-de-lis” or lily flower (water
plant), which was taken as a symbol of the Empire by the French monarchy in the 12^th century. Shakespeare and Longfellow called it “flower-de-luce.”

Lilac: The word means “blue.” The origin of the name is from the Persian “nilak” (bluish) which passed into Arabic as “laylak.” In the 16^th century, the plant was brought into England by the Spanish, who called it “lilac”. The word was then borrowed by the English.

Pansy: Someone thought the flower looked like it had a thoughtful face, hence “pensee” in French, which means “thoughtful”. This was later turned into pansy.

Phlox: It has flowers with variegated colors, which glow like flames. In Greek, “Phlox” means “flame.”

Tulip: The showy colors and velvet texture resembles a turban. The term comes through the obsolete French word “tulipan” from “tulbend”. The latter was the Turkish way of saying “turban.”

Daisy: The sunburst center and radiant petals look like an eye, and like an eye, it opens up at the beginning of each day. So in Old English, people called it the “eye of the day” or ‘day’s eye’ which later became “daisy.

Marigold: This was named after Mary and the color gold. It was once used for healing wounds. Formerly, it was also used as a flavor for stews and making soap. The botanical name “calendula” is a diminutive of the Latin “calendae”, or the first of the month. The flowers are like a “little calendar”, as they bloom every month.

Dandelion: The leaf has jagged edges like a saw, so the French called it “dent de lion” or “lion’s tooth.” This sounded like “dandelion” to the English.

The buttercup: It is so called because it looks a cup made of yellow butter.