Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-18
Flowers as symbols.

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to the earliest ages. The emblemat-
ic flower of the Hindoos is the mari
gold. The national flower Of the Chi
nese is the chrysanthemum. Then
there is the heliotrope OF the Egyp-
tians, and the lily OF the Nile, the
fig tree of the Romans, the tentales
of the Gauls, the lotus of the
Greeks, the bean of the Phythagore-
ans, the soldeneda Of the Alps, the
violet of Parma, the adonis of Casti'
glione, the carnation OF Lodi, the
willows of the Orient the hi
discus of Syria, the rose o.
Damietta and the jasmine o.
Martinique. The thistle is the emb
lem of Scotland, and the shamrock Of
Ireland. The feur-de-lis is the badge
of the royal house of France, and the
amaranth of that of Sweden. The
rose blooms forever on the royal coat
of the arms of England, and leads
back to the red and white roses which
we're the badges of the Lancastrian
and York rivals to the English throne.
Flowers have ever been symbols OF
religious beliefs, end their significance
ofttimes mythical and weird. Among
these the most notable is the red tree
OF Kounbound. each leaf OF which
bears a letter OF the alphabet of Thi-
bet, vegetable poem, or eternal song
in honor of Buddha. Then the bo-
tree, or pippul tree, which is planted
close to every temple Of Buddha, and
attracts as much veneration as the
statues of the god himself. More poet
ical is the azure campac of the Per.
sians, which grows in Paradise only
Then the mallow Of the Persian fire.
worshippers, the sipakora, the fruit ol
which gives two hun lred years OF life
the touba tree, o'ershadoging the
celestial abode of Mahomet; the kaki,
each flower Of which is gifted with a
soul; the verdant anrita, with fruits
Of ambrosia; the magic camalata, the
mandragora of the Hebrew priests,
the haemony of Thessaly, possessing
magical powers; the jacaranda OF
Brazil, with its trumpet flowers; the
everlasting rhodanthe of Australia
the seal of Solomon and the hazel
wand.
The sweet basil and the moonflower
were sacred to Asiatic deities. In the
Roman custom to Juno was devoted
the lily, to Venus the myrtle and the
rose, to Minerva the olive and violet
Diana had the dittany, Ceres the
poppy, Mars the ash, Bacchus the
grape leaf, Hercules the poplar and
Jupiter the monarch of trees, the oak.
Hence it follows that the lily and the
oak were emblems OF power, the
myrtle and the rose, of love; the olive
and violet, Of learning; the ash, OF
war, and the grape leaf of festivity.
The days of the week are name
after Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian
deities who had each special flower
Sunnandaeg, or Suns day, the sun
flower; Monandaeg, or Moons day,
the daisy; the god Tues day, the
blue monks hood; the god Thor's
day, the burdock the goddess Freya's
day, the orchis; and Saetes' day, the
horse-tail.
The sacred days in the calendar OF
the Christian churches have all their
flower or plant emblems, the principal
of which among us are the holly for
Christmas, the palm for Palm Sunday,
the amaranth for All-Saint's Day, and
the Trinity lily for Easter.
Shakespeare in many instances has
displayed his fondness for flowers,
and his delicate appreciation of their
uses and similitudes. The fantastic
garlands of "Ophelia" were made OF
crow flowers, nettles, daisies and long
puppies. These are all emblematic
flowers, the first signifying fair maid,
the second stung to the quick, the
third her virgin bloom, the fourth nm
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