The Floralia, or Florifertum was a five day festival in Ancient Rome, centred around the Kalends of May (May Day). Offerings of Milk and Honey were made to the flower goddess. The city would be decorated in flowers and people would wear them in their Hair. The games of the Florifertum would be celebrated on this day. So here are 10 fascinating facts about flowers:
- Flowers are basically the sexual organs of plants. In a magazine I read recently, a flower expert commented that if flowers could talk, they'd probably say, "Leave us alone; we're trying to have sex"! Most flowers have both female and male parts. The pistil is the female part and resembles a vase with a long neck. It contains the ovules, or eggs. The male part is called the stamen and resembles a stiff, standing piece of string. On top of the filament is a rounded ball of pollen called the anther.
- While flowers may have both parts, they don't generally pollinate themselves but rather rely on insects or small animals to do it for them. Flowers that are insect-pollinated are called entomophilous; literally "insect-loving" in Greek. The beautiful colours of flowers are part of a flower's strategy to attract pollinators. Many insects and small birds can see colours. Some pollinators can see into the ultraviolet spectrum as well, so some flowers have patterns called nectar guides, which are only visible in ultraviolet light. It tells those pollinators where to look for nectar, the sweet substance produced to attract them.
- The scent of a flower isn't just for humans to enjoy, either, but is another strategy flowers use to attract creatures to pollinate them. This is especially true of flowers pollinated by nocturnal creatures. These flowers tend to be White, as they don't rely on colour to attract insects. Not all flowers smell nice to us, either. Some of them want to attract insects which like rotting flesh and so they smell like that. Some flowers are even more sneaky and have evolved to look and smell like female Bees. Male bees come along looking for a mate and go from one to another in the vain hope of some nookie.
- The largest flower in the world is the titan arum, which produces flowers 10 feet high and 3 feet wide. It's also known as the corpse plant, because it is one of those mentioned above which smells like rotting flesh.
- The smallest flowers are probably Wolffia, or duckweed. Each flower consists of a single pistil and stamen; it also produces the world’s smallest fruit. The plant has no roots and is found in quiet freshwater lakes or marshes.
- Writers have long been inspired by flowers and use their meanings as symbolism in their work. Shakespeare used the word "flower" more than 100 times in his plays and sonnets. In Hamlet, for example, Ophelia mentions and explains the symbolic meaning of pansies, rosemary, fennel, lilies, columbine, rue, Daisy, and Violets. Even modern day writers like JK Rowling do it. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Professor Severus Snape uses the language of flowers to express regret and mourning for the death of Lily Potter.
- The language of flowers is called floriography and although ascribing meanings to flowers has been around since Shakespeare and even the Bible, was especially popular in the Victorian era. In Victorian times there were books devoted to the meanings of different flowers, flower dictionaries, and a bouquet could actually be a message in code, expressing something a Victorian lady or gentleman could never speak of out loud. Roses had different meanings according to their colour. Red for passion, white for chastity and Yellow for friendship. In Russia, receiving a yellow flower means you're being firmly placed in the friendship zone. The mimosa, or sensitive plant, means chastity because the leaves of the mimosa close at night, or when touched. Even the positioning of a nosegay sent by a suitor could send a message. Pinned on the cleavage meant friendship zone, but if she pinned it to her heart, he was in with a chance.
- Flower meanings also gave rise to the idea of birth flowers. Each month of the year was associated with a flower or two and those born in that month were said to inherit the qualities of that flower. See the list below for more details.
- Most countries, and states and counties within countries, have their own official flower. There are far too many to mention here, but England's national flower is the rose. The wars of the roses, between Lancashire and York were so named because both counties had roses as their symbol – red roses for Lancashire and white roses for Yorkshire.
- There's a plant called the Agave, or century grows for many years without producing any flowers, then grows one single bloom and dies. This phenomenon is called being monocarpic.
Birth flowers
- January: Carnation (meaning depends on the colour) or Snowdrop (hope and beauty).
- February: Violet (loyalty and faithfulness) or primrose.
- March: Daffodil or jonquil (unequalled love)
- April: Daisy (loyal love and purity) or sweet pea (good-bye, or blissful pleasure).
- May: Hawthorn (good wishes) or Lily of the valley (humility and sweetness).
- June: Rose or Honeysuckle (everlasting love).
- July: Larkspur (meaning depends on the colour) or water lily (purity and majesty).
- August: Gladiolus (remembrance, calm, integrity, or a heart pierced by love) or Poppies (a variety of meanings, depending on colour).
- September: Morning glory (affection). Aster (powerful love).
- October: Marigold (optimism) or cosmos (order and peace).
- November: Chrysanthemum (Compassion, friendship, joy).
- December: Holly (a wish for domestic happiness) or narcissus.
My Books:
If you like stories about:
- Superheroes
- Psychic detectives
- Romance
- Alternative dimensions
- Time travel
- Secrets
- Friendship
- Family relationships
- Ghosts
- Adventure
- Crime
If you want to read about superheroes who aren't the usual Marvel/DC staples, who don't all live in the USA.
If you like quirky tales.
If you like to support independent self published authors.
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