The language of flowers The floral offering ; a token of affection and esteem ; comprising the language and poetry of flowers
Crown Imperial Power.
Cuscuta Meanness.
Cypress Mourning.
Daffodil Self-love.
Daisy Innocence.
----, Garden I share your sentiments.
----, Wild I will think of it.
Dandelion The rustic oracle.
Day-Lily, Yellow Coquetry.
Dittany Childbirth.
Dock, Patience Patience
Dodder Meanness.
Ebony tree Blackness.
Eglantine Poetry.
Fennel Strength.
Fig Longevity.
Fir tree Elevation.
Flax I feel your kindness.
Flower-de-Luce Flame.
Forget-Me-Not Forget me not.
Fraxinella Fire.
Fuller’s Teasel Misanthropy.
Geranium, Pencilled leaf Ingenuity.
----, Rose-scented Preference.
----, Scarlet Stupidity.
----, Sorrowful Melancholy mind.
----, Wild Steadfast piety.
Grass Utility.
Hawthorn Hope.
Hazel Peace, reconciliation.
Heart’s-ease Think of me.
Heath Solitude.
Heliotrope, Peruvian Devoted attachment.
Hellenium Tears.
Hepatica Confidence.
Holly Foresight.
Hollyhock Ambition.
Honeysuckle Generous and devoted affection.
Hop Injustice.
Hornbeam Ornament.
Horse-chestnut Luxury.
Hortensia You are cold.
Hyacinth Game, play.
Ice-plant Your looks freeze me.
Ipomæa I attach myself to you.
Iris Message.
Ivy Friendship.
Jasmine Amiableness.
----, Carolina Separation.
----, Indian I attach myself to you.
Jonquil Desire.
Juniper Protection.
Larch Boldness.
Larkspur Lightness.
Laurel Glory.
Laurustinus I die if neglected.
Lavender Mistrust.
Leaves, Dead Sadness, melancholy.
Lilac First emotions of love.
----, White Youth.
Lily Majesty.
Lily of the Valley Return of happiness.
Linden tree Conjugal love.
Liverwort Confidence.
London Pride Frivolity.
Lotus Eloquence.
Lucern Life.
Madder Calumny.
Maiden Hair Secrecy.
Mallow Beneficence.
Manchineel tree Falsehood.
Mandrake Rarity.
Maple Reserve.
Marigold Grief.
----, Prophetic Prediction.
---- and Cypress Despair.
Marvel of Peru Timidity.
Meadow Saffron My best days are past.
Mezereon Coquetry.
---- Desire to please.
Mignonette Your qualities surpass your charms.
Milkwort Hermitage.
Mistletoe I surmount all difficulties.
Moonwort Forgetfulness.
Moss Maternal Love.
Mulberry tree, Black I shall not survive you.
----, White Wisdom.
Musk-plant Weakness.
Myrobolan Privation.
Myrtle Love.
Narcissus Self-love.
Nettle Cruelty.
Nightshade, Bitter-sweet Truth.
----, Enchanter’s Spell.
Nosegay Gallantry.
Oak Hospitality.
Olive Peace.
Ophrys, Spider Skill.
Orange Flower Chastity.
---- tree Generosity.
Orchis, Bee Error.
Parsley Festivity.
Passion Flower Faith.
Peppermint Warmth of feeling.
Periwinkle Tender recollections.
Pine-apple You are perfect.
Pink Pure love.
----, Yellow Disdain.
Plane tree Genius.
Plum tree Keep your promises.
----, Wild Independence.
Poplar, Black Courage.
----, White Time.
Poppy Consolation.
---- Sleep.
----, White My bane, my antidote.
Potato Beneficence.
Primrose Childhood.
----, large-flowered Evening Inconstancy.
Privet Prohibition.
Quince Temptation.
Ranunculus You are radiant with charms.
Reeds Music.
Rose Love.
----, Hundred-leaved Grace.
----, Monthly Beauty ever new.
----, Musk Capricious beauty.
----, Single Simplicity.
----, White Silence.
----, Withered Fleeting beauty.
----, Yellow Infidelity.
Rosebud A young girl.
----, White A heart unacquainted with love.
Rosemary Your presence revives me.
Rue, Wild Morals.
Rush Docility.
Saffron Beware of excess.
Sage Esteem.
Sainfoil, Shaking Agitation.
St. John’s Wort Superstition.
Sardonia Irony.
Sensitive Plant Chastity.
Snapdragon Presumption.
Snowdrop Hope.
Sorrel, Wood Joy.
Speedwell Fidelity.
Spindle-tree Your charms are engraven on my heart.
Star of Bethlehem Purity.
Stock Lasting beauty.
----, Ten Week Promptness.
Stonecrop Tranquility.
Straw, Broken Rupture of a contract.
----, Whole Union.
Strawberry Perfection.
Sunflower False riches.
Sweet Sultan Happiness.
Sweet William Finesse.
Sycamore Curiosity.
Syringa Fraternal.
Tansey, Wild I declare war against you.
Tendrils of climbing plants Ties.
Thistle Surliness.
Thorn-apple Deceitful charms.
Thrift Sympathy.
Thyme Activity.
Tremella Nostoc Resistance.
Truffle Surprise.
Tuberose Dangerous pleasures.
Tulip Declaration of love.
Tussilage, Sweet-scented Justice shall be done to you.
Valerian An accommodating disposition.
----, Greek Rupture.
Venus’s Looking-glass Flattery.
Veronica Fidelity.
Vervain Enchantment.
Vine Intoxication.
Violet Modesty.
----, White Innocence, candour.
Wallflower Fidelity in misfortune.
Walnut Stratagem.
Whortleberry Treachery.
Willow, Weeping Mourning.
Wormwood Absence.
Yew Sorrow.
The Calendar of Flowers.
The Roman Catholic monks, or the observers of the Roman Catholic ritual,
have compiled a Catalogue of Flowers for every day in the year, and
dedicated each flower to a particular saint, on account of its blooming
about the time of that saint’s festival. These appropriations form a
complete Calendar of the Flowers.
The figures attached express the year in which the saint died.
JANUARY.
1. Laurustinus, _Vibernum tinus_. St. Faine, or Fanchea, an Irish
saint of the sixth century.
2. Groundsel, _Senecio vulgaris_. St. Macarius of Alexandria, 394.
3. Iris, Persian, _Iris Persica_. St. Genevieve, patroness of
Paris, 422.
4. Hazel, _Corylus avellana_. St. Titus, disciple of St. Paul.
5. Hellebore, _Helleborus fœtidus_. St. Simeon Stylites of Rome.
6. Moss, screw, _Tortula rigida_. St. Nilammon.
7. Laurel, Portugal, _Prunus Lusitanica_. St. Kentigerna.
8. Tremella, yellow, _Tremella deliquescens_. St. Gudula, patroness
of Brussels.
9. Laurel, common, _Prunus lauro-cerasus_, or common small-fruited
cherry. St. Marciana of Rome.
10. Gorse, or Furze, _Ulex Europœus_. St. William of Bourges, 1207.
11. Moss, early, _Bryum hornum_. Swan-neck thread-moss. St.
Theodosius.
12. Moss, hygrometric, _Funaria hygrometrica_. St. Arcadius.
13. Yew tree, common, _Taxus bacata_. St. Veronica, a nun of Milan,
1497.
14. Strawberry, barren, _Fragaria sterilis_. St. Hilary, 368.
15. Ivy, _Hedera helix_. St. Paul, the first hermit.
16. Nettle, common red Dead, _Lamium purpureum_. St. Marcellus,
Pope.
17. Anemone, garden, _Anemone hortensis_. St. Anthony, patriarch of
monks, 251.
18. Moss, four-toothed, _Bryum pellucidum_. St. Prisca, a Roman
martyr.
19. Nettle, white Dead, _Lamium album_. St. Martha, a Roman martyr,
270.
20. Nettle, woolly Dead, _Lamium Gargaricum_. St. Fabian, Pope.
21. Hellebore, black, _Helleborus niger_. St. Agnes, a special
patroness of purity: beheaded at the age of thirteen, 304.
22. Grass, early whitlow, _Draba verna_. St. Vincent, a Spanish
martyr.
23. Peziza, _Peziza acetobolum_. St. Raymond of Pennafort, 1275.
24. Moss, stalkless, _Phascum muticum_. St. Timothy, disciple of
St. Paul, 250.
25. Hellebore, winter, _Helleborus hyemalis_. The Conversion of St.
Paul.
26. Butter-bur, white, _Tussilago alba_, or Colt’s-foot. St.
Polycarp.
27. Moss, earth, _Phascum cuspidatum_. St. Chrysostom.
28. Daisy, double, _Bellis perennis plenus_. St. Margaret of
Hungary, 1271.
29. Fern, flowering, _Osmunda regalis_. St. Francis of Sales, 1622.
30. Spleen-wort, _Asplenium trichomanes_. St. Martin.
31. Hart’s Tongue, or Spleen-wort, _Asplenium scolopendrium_. St.
Marcella, 410.
FEBRUARY.
1. Moss, lesser water, _Fontinalis minor_. St. Ignatius; and
Bay-tree, _Laurus nobilis_. St. Bridget, patroness of Ireland.
2. Snow-drop, _Galanthus nivalis_. Purification of the Virgin Mary.
3. Moss, great water, _Fontinalis anti-pyretica_, St. Blase of
Armenia, 316.
4. Moss, common hair, or Goldilocks, _Polytrichum commune_. St.
Jane, or Queen Joan, 1505.
Bay, Indian, _Laurus indica_. St. Margaret of England.
5. Primrose, common, _Primula vulgaris_. St. Agatha, a Sicilian
martyr.
Primrose, red, _Primula acaulis_. St. Adelaide, 1015.
6. Hyacinth, blue, _Hyacinthus orientalis_. St. Dorothy, 308.
7. Cyclamen, round-leafed, _Cyclamen coum_. St. Romuald, 1027.
8. Moss, narrow-leafed spring, _Mnium androgynum_. St. John of
Matha, 1213.
9. Narcissus, Roman, _Narcissus Romanus_. St. Apollonia, 249.
10. Mezereon, _Daphne mezereon_. St. Scholastica, 543.
Moss, silky fork, _Mnium heteromallum_. St. Coteris, fourth
century.