FLORAL SYMBOLISM

Evening Star, Issue 22145, 27 September 1935, Page 7

FLORAL SYMBOLISM

Red clover blossoms indicate industry. In Italy the oat is regarded as emblematic of music. In India the lotus is emblematic of life; in ancient Egypt it was a death flower.

The snowball is symbolic of winter, its name and appearance evidently suggesting the idea. The daisy is emblematic of innocence, the colour of the flower probably suggesting the symbolism. The myrtle has always been regarded as an emblem of love. Among the Greeks and Romans it was planted in cemeteries.

Tlie box plant is regai’ded as symbolic of constancy. It is frequently mentioned in the lighter old English poems. The fern is indicative of fascination. In Saxony the present by a lover to his sweetheart of a handful of ferns is equivalent to a proposal. The pink is considered in the South of France symbolic of pure affection. Peasant girls along the French Riviera wear pinks at their weddings.

The daffodil is a symbol of chivalry. It was once a favourite flower in France, and there prevailed a ‘fashion of gentlemen wearing hunches of daffodils in their hats with their plumes. The forget-me-not has two or three emblematic meanings. One is suggested by its name; the, other by its colour. Blue among flowers is generally associated with the tender passion.

The lily of the valley is emblematic of happiness. In Portugal it is symbolic of modesty, its Jowly growth and retiring habits giving it a symbolism closely akin to that of the violet. The chrysanthemum lias for been emblematic of undying love. The blooming of tho flower in the autumn, after most other flowers have ceased to produce blossoms, is supposed to havt> originated the symbolism.