**Peony-Plant of Healing.**

Happy Life and Prosperity.
![](media/image1.jpeg){width="2.6666666666666665in" height="1.6875in"}\
It is believed that Peony is named after **Paeon (also known as Paean),
who was a healing deity who had healed Hades' and Ares' wounds.**

The flower myth related, says that Paeon was a student of **Asclepius,
the god of medicine and healing.** He was once instructed by Leto
(Apollo\'s mother and goddess of fertility) to obtain a magical root
growing on Mount Olympus that would soothe the pain of women in
childbirth. Asclepius became jealous and threatened to kill his pupil.

Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the
peony flower. However, **peony seeds were actually used by pregnant
women in ancient times.**

**Hellebore-Christmas Rose  **![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.125in"
height="2.125in"}Madness and Delirium.

In Greek mythology**, Melampus**, the great seer, used this plant as an
herb to cure the madness of **King Proetus\'** daughters and other Greek
women, who lost their minds and roamed wildly through the mountains and
the desert of Tiryns, thinking they were cows.

As a result, **Melampus and his brother Bias** gained a fortune (two
thirds of King Proetus\' kingdom) becoming the husbands of the
princesses they had cured. 

**Achillea-Yarrow   **![](media/image3.jpeg){width="2.0833333333333335in"
height="2.6041666666666665in"}Dispute and Quarrels  

It is named after the hero **Achilles** of Homer\'s Iliad, who was said
to have been giving this plant to his soldiers (the legendary
Mirmidones) **to help stop the bleeding** from their wounds during the
Trojan War. Modern tests on this plant have shown that it does indeed
contain chemicals that help blood to clot.

It is also called \"devil\'s plaything\" because people in the past
believed that **placing yarrow** **under their pillow would make them
dream of matters of love.**

**Anemone-Wind flower**

**\
**The name of anemone plant is connected with the ancient

myth, telling the famous **love story between**

![](media/image4.jpeg){width="2.0833333333333335in"
height="2.1041666666666665in"}**Adonis and Aphrodite.**

This specific myth inspired great poets like **Ovidius** or, much later,
**Shakespeare**, to compose hymns dedicated to love, but we will only
quote the part related to the flower.

According to this myth, when Adonis lived with Aphrodite, the two lovers
would go hunting in the woods. As Adonis chased game through the forest,
the goddess would follow closely behind, in her swan-driven chariot,
dressed as a huntress. **Aphrodite\'s ex-lover, the god of war Ares**,
grew jealous of her affair with the mortal. While his rival was hunting
alone, Ares disguised himself as a boar and attacked Adonis causing him
lethal injuries. Adonis used his spear to strike back to Ares, but was
soon gored to death by the boar\'s great tusks. Aphrodite hurried to
Adonis in her chariot, but his soul had already descended into the
Underworld. In despair, she sprinkled nectar on Adonis' wounds. **As
Aphrodite bore her lover\'s body out of the woods, crimson anemones
sprung up where each drop of blood and nectar fell onto the earth.**

**It is said that that the wind which blows the blossoms open, will soon
afterwards blow the petals away; so it is called the Anemone, or Wind
Flower, for that which brings forth its life, ends it.**

![](media/image5.jpeg){width="2.09375in" height="2.0833333333333335in"}

**Adonis- Pheasant\'s eye.**

It would be an omission not to mention that there is one more flower by
the name of Adonis, which possesses medicinal properties. However, it is
obvious that the flower the myth refers to is another famous Greek
flower. It is the field poppy, certainly the prince of weeds with the
beautiful red color (Adonis blood).

![](media/image6.jpeg){width="2.0833333333333335in"
height="2.75in"}**Iris-Iris\
**The flower got its name from the **Greek goddess Iris**, **goddess of
the rainbow**. Iris was also known to be the **messenger of Zeus and
Hera.** Iris would take messages from \"the eye of Heaven\" to earth
travelling on the arc of the rainbow. The word iris means \"eye of
heaven\". It was the name given to the goddess, this flower, and the
center of your eye. This means that each of us carries a piece of heaven
with us.

**Hyacinthus-hyacinth\
**A handsome Spartan youth, Hyacinthus, was loved by both Apollo, god of
the sun, and Zephyrus, god of the west wind. Both gods competed to gain
this handsome youth's attention. One day, as Apollo was teaching the
young man how to throw the discus, the god accidentally killed
Hyacinthus. 

According to another legend, Zephyrus was jealous of the youth\'s love
for Apollo and blew upon the discus, causing it to strike Hyacinthus and
kill him. The truth is that the hyacinth mentioned in this myth is most
probably not what we call hyacinths today, as the "modern" hyacinth is
not native to Greece. **In fact, the myth may not even be the true
source of the word \"hyacinth,\" as it has been traced back to even more
distant antiquity; a non-Greek language spoken some 4,000 years ago,
called \'Thracopelasgian.\'**  

![](media/image7.jpeg){width="2.0819444444444444in"
height="2.1354166666666665in"}

![](media/image8.jpeg){width="2.0833333333333335in"
height="2.7708333333333335in"}**Narcissus-narcotic**\
This famous flower inspired myth is perhaps more suited to the beauty of
the narcissus. Narcissus was an exceptionally handsome young man**. His
mother had told him that he would live a long life if he did not look
upon his own beauty.** Narcissus decided, however, to see his reflection
on the surface of the water coming from a spring. He was so enchanted by
his own beauty that he remained there, still, admiring his image until
he died by the side of the spring. According to another version, he
mistakenly thought that his own reflection was the face of the nymph
that inhabited the spring and he drowned when we jumped into the water
trying to catch her. **The narcissus flower supposedly grew at that
spot**

![](media/image9.jpeg){width="2.0833333333333335in"
height="2.0416666666666665in"}**Crocus-Snow crocus\
**Crocus was a friend of the Greek god Hermes. One day as the two
friends were playing, Hermes accidentally hit and killed his friend**. A
small flower grew at the place of the accident. Three drops of Crocus'
blood fell on the center of the flower and formed the spots on this
plant.** The plant took the name crocus because of this event.

According to another myth, Crocus was a young man who was transformed
into a flower because of his unfulfilled love for a nymph called Smilax.
At the same time, Smilax transformed into a vine-plant (Smilax
aspera-Sarsparilla).

![](media/image10.jpeg){width="2.6666666666666665in" height="2.0in"}

**Daphne -Laurel tree\
**She was a young beautiful nymph, daughter of the river god Peneus. She
was a huntress who dedicated herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt,
and, like the goddess, refused to marry. She was pursued by many
admirers but she rejected every lover, including the powerful son of
Zeus, Apollo. Apollo fell in love with Daphne, and when she rejected his
advances, he pursued her through the woods. Daphne got frightened and
prayed to her father for help. Whereupon her father told her that he
would protect her by turning her into a Laurel Tree on the bank of his
river (Greek native Daphne). When Apollo came looking for Daphne, her
father told him that she was transformed into a Laurel tree. Apollo then
cut off some branches and made himself a wreath in memory of her beauty
and his love for her. Apollo made laurel his sacred tree. He
appropriated the laurel wreath, since then called DAPHNE in Greek, for
champions and those who strived for excellence in their chosen fields,
i.e. in the ancient Olympic Games all the champions were crowned with a
DAPHNE.

**\
Rose-Rose** Many legends exist about the rose. In a Greek myth, the rose
was created by the ![](media/image11.jpeg){width="1.9791666666666667in"
height="2.6041666666666665in"}goddess of flowers, Chloris. On day, she
found the lifeless body of a nymph in the woods and she turned her into
a flower. She called upon Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Dionysus, the
god of wine. Aphrodite gave the flower beauty as her gift and Dionysus
added nectar to give it a sweet fragrance. Zephyrus, god of the West
Wind, blew the clouds away so Apollo, the sun god, could shine and make
the flower bloom. That is how the rose was created and rightfully
crowned \"Queen of Flowers\".

![](media/image12.jpeg){width="2.6041666666666665in"
height="1.875in"}**Aster-Elegance and Daintiness. Talisman of Love.\
**It is said that this kind of flowers began to grow from the tears of
Asterea, the Greek goddess of the starry sky (also known as Virgo in
Rome), who cried because she saw no stars when she looked down upon the
earth.

**Agave-Mexican Agave, Century  \
**The Greek word \"agave\" means admirable or highborn (in origin). This
plant came to Greece from Mexico. However, its name is Greek and it was
probably used because the Greek Agave was one of the \"lesser\" gods of
the Moon, that means that she was one of the faces of the ancient Mother
Earth of the Mediterranean; the ground in Jalisco, Mexico, reminds a lot
of the ground in Mediterranean countries. Agave was the daughter of
Kadmus, King of Thebes, and sister of Semele who was Dionysus' mother.
When Semele was thunder-stricken by Zeus, Agave spread the rumor that
Zeus killed her sister because she spoke badly of him.

![](media/image13.jpeg){width="2.6041666666666665in"
height="2.0833333333333335in"}Later on, Dionysus avenged his mother's
death and punished Agave very severely. When Dionysus returned to
Thebes, where Pentheus, son of Agave, was the king, he ordered all the
women of the town to go to Mount Cithaeron and perform rituals in his
honor. Pentheus, who did not approve the introduction of such worship,
tried to spy on the women. His mother noticed his shadow, but thinking
it was a wild animal, she dismembered and devoured him.

![](media/image14.jpeg){width="2.0833333333333335in"
height="2.6041666666666665in"}**Althaea-Marsh Mallow   \
**The following legend has no connection to this plant, other than its
name. Althea was the wife of Oineus, King of Kalydona, the mother of
Deianeira and Meleager. When her son turned seven days old, the
goddesses of Destiny (the three Moirae) visited her and told her that
her baby would die if the torch that was lighted in the house at the
moment was burned down to the end. Immediately, Althea put off the torch
and hid it in a chest. Meleager grew up and became a famous hero but
during the quest for the Kalydon boar, Meleager killed by mistake his
uncles, Althea's brothers. Althea went berserk and threw the torch into
the fire. Meleager died immediately. When Althea realized what had
happened she hung herself in despair.

Fir-Greek Fir. 

In modern times it is known as the most suitable Christmas tree. But
what do Greek myths narrate? Ancient Greeks called the Fir-tree
\"Pitys\" and together with the pine-tree they were god Pan sacred
trees. Pan was once in love with a nymph called Pity. The god of the
North wind was also attracted to Pity, but the nymph chose Pan over him.
The god of the North wind, insulted, blew her over a gorge and killed
her. Pan found her lifeless body laying in the gorge and turned her into
his sacred tree, the Fir-tree. Ever since, every time the North wind
blows, the nymph cries. Her tears are the pitch droplets that leak out
of the fir-cones in autumn.

![](media/image15.jpeg){width="2.327777777777778in"
height="3.0083333333333333in"}

![](media/image16.jpeg){width="1.9166666666666667in"
height="2.65625in"}**Cypress-Cyparissus \
**According to tradition, Cyparissos was a handsome young man from the
island of Kea, the son of Telefus and grand son of Hercules.  He was god
Apollo\'s protégé as well as of god Zephyrus (god of the wind).  His
beloved company was a holy deer.  However on some summer day while the
deer was lying in the sun, Cyparissos mistakenly killed it with his
spear.  The young man, in despair, wished that he was dead as well.  He
asked the heavens for a favor; that his tears would roll down
eternally.  The gods turned him into a cypress tree, the tree of
sorrow.  Since then, the cypress tree has been considered a mourning
tree and has been planted in cemeteries.

![](media/image17.jpeg){width="2.2916666666666665in"
height="2.2916666666666665in"}**Centaurea-Cornflower   \
**It is said that this flower was named after the wise Centaur Chiron,
mentor of Asclepius, Achilles, Jason, and Apollo. During the Titan war,
Hiron took Hercules' side in his battle against the centaurs. But
Hercules, by mistake, wounded Hiron's foot with an arrow full of Hydra
poison. Chiron used the \"Centaurea\" plant in order to heal his wound.

![](media/image18.jpeg){width="1.9583333333333333in"
height="2.3958333333333335in"}**Orchid-Orchis. \
**In Greek mythology, Orchis was the son of a nymph and a satyr. During
a celebratory feast for Bacchus, Orchis committed the sacrilege of
attempting to rape a priestess, resulting in his being torn apart by
wild beasts, then metamorphosing into a slender and modest plant. 

Theophrastus was the first of the Western authors to mention orchids. It
was he who first applied the name Orchis scientifically, echoing the
myth of Orchis and reflecting the resemblance of the double root tubers
to the male genitalia that got old Orchis in trouble in the first place.
Greek women thought they could control the sex of their unborn children
with Orchid roots. If the father ate large, new tubers, the child would
be male; if the mother ate small tubers, the child would be female.

**Almond-Almond tree** Greek mythology tells of the **beautiful princess
Phyllis**, who was the daughter of a **Thracian**
![](media/image19.jpeg){width="2.2916666666666665in"
height="2.2916666666666665in"} **king**. She fell in love with Theseus\'
son, **Demophon**. The young man ended up there while sailing home from
Troy and the king gave him part of his kingdom and married him to his
daughter. After some time, Demophon missed Athens so much that he asked
to go home for a while. Phyllis agreed after he had promised he would be
back soon, and off he sailed.

Phyllis was left waiting at the altar on her wedding day by her
intended, Demophon. Phyllis waited for years for him to return, but
finally **died of a broken heart**. In **sympathy, the gods transformed
Phyllis into an almond tree, which became a symbol of hope.** When the
errant, remorseful Demonphon returned to find Phyllis as a leafless,
flowerless tree, he embraced the tree**. The tree suddenly burst into
bloom, a demonstration of love not conquered by death.**