I always fancied that foxgloves were so named because their bell-shaped flowers were perfectly shaped for a charming gentleman fox to put his paws into. In fact, “foxglove” is a poetic play on words. Known also by its Latin nomenclature as Digitalis purpurea (from “digitus” for finger), the flower’s common name dates back to Edward III. It was originally dubbed “Folks-glove” because villagers believed that “good folk” (fairies) lived in the deep hollows and woody clearings where the foxglove proliferates and presumably wore the charming petals to keep their tiny hands warm during the winter.
Every flower has a story. To bring order to the potential chaos, in the mid 1700s Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus standardized the classification system that employs Latin names to identify over 14,000 plants. His universally-used taxonomy crosses borders and language barriers.
But for foxgloves--and their comrade-in-arms—both Latin and commonplace names reveal journeys through poetry and legend, history, and language.
Poetic Lore and Myth:
Lady’s Slipper Orchids are known by the Latin name Cypripedium pedilum, which references their habitat on the Greek Isle of Cyprus in combination with “pedilum” which means shoe. And because of its frilly shape, it is affectionately called lady’s slipper.
Camellia was named by Linnaeus to honor fellow botanist Joseph Kamel. But it has become legendary as a flower of great poignancy ever since Alexander Dumas published his 1858 novel “Lady of the Camellias,” about tubercular French courtesan based on his real-life lover Marie Duplessis. The tragic love story went on to the stage and in English is known as Camille.
Larkspur gets its common name because it resembles the spur, or claw of the lark. Many gardeners prefer the designation lark's heel, which comes from Shakespeare’s “The Two Noble Kinsmen.” It’s Latin name Delphinium alludes to the shape of the opening flower, drawing from the Greek “delphis” to describe the bottle-like nose of the dolphin.
Cuckoo Flower/Lady’s Smock also gets mentions in Shakespeare. The Bard’s description of the meadow flower comes in “Love’s Labour’s Lost”: "When daises pied, and violets blue, and lady-smocks all silver white, and cuckoo-buds of yellow hue do paint the meadows with delight.” Or as another tale goes, maybe they look like smocks hung out to dry. (Latin name: Cardamine pratensis.)
Daffodil is a derivation of Asphodelus, a genus of mainly perennial plants. But its Latin name tells the bulb’s more attractive tale. AKA Narcissus, the flower is named for the handsome Greek God who saw his image in a pond and fell in love with himself.
Forget-me-nots, flowers of enduring faithfulness, have their roots in medieval times. The story goes a knight and his lady walked along the side of a river and as he bent to pick a posy of flowers, the weight of his armor caused him to fall into the river. While drowning, he threw the posy to his loved one and shouted "Forget-me-not." (Latin: Boraginaceae.)
Black-eyed Susan and Sweet William: These wildflowers play a starring role in John Gay’s 18th century poem. “All in the downs the fleet was moored, banners waving in the wind. When Black-eyed Susan came aboard, and eyed the burly men. ‘Tell me ye sailors, tell me true, if my Sweet William sails with you.’” In the garden, these two biennials, bloom at exactly the same time. (Latin: Rudbeckia hirta and Dianthus barbatus.)
Hollyhock, a banner flower in the English cottage garden, has a more humble origin. Doctors once used the leaves of this tall, mallow-cupped flower to make a concoction that reduced the swelling in the ankle, or hock, of a horse (Latin: Alcea).
The Passion Flower takes its story from Christian theology. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of “the passion” of Christ. (Latin: Passiflora.)
Queen Anne’s Lace has small, open work white heads that surround a tiny red flower, which, legend has, represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace. (Latin: Daucus carota.)
Not Lost In Translation:
As a gardener I always get a kick out of snapping open the seed pod of Impatiens.
Turns out, Impatiens is the Latin for impatient, referring to the flower’s violent seed discharge.
Dianthus (carnation) combines the Greek words for Greek god Zeus (Di) and flower (anthos).
Primrose means “first rose” in Latin because it appears so early in the season.
Hydrangea bush absorbs up to twelve gallons of water per day. Its name is a nod to “hydro,” the Greek word for water.
Attention Twilight fans, are we ready for a sequel—“Lupines?” Prevalent in the western U.S., these flowers were originally believed to be a predatory. Lupine incorporates the Latin word for “wolf.”
Antirrhinum is derived from the Greek words “anti” meaning like, and “rhin,” meaning nose. We call them snapdragons
Pansy is derived from the French pensée, meaning “thought” because it is thought the plant resembles a pensive human face.
Hemerocallis is as direct a translation as it gets--from Greek (hēmera for "day" and kalos, meaning "beautiful") and we like to call the flower a Day Lily.
History Lessons:
Often flowers are named after botanists and plant explorers who brought them out of their native habitats.
Perovskia or Russian Sage, honors V.A. Perovski (1794-1857), a Russian general.
Monarda (bee balm) pays tribute to Nicolas Monardes (1493-1588), physician and botanist of Seville.
Poinsettia takes its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, U.S. Minister to Mexico brought the plant back to the states in 1825.
Dahlias got their designation from Swedish Botanist Anders Dahl who introduced the flowers to the rest of Europe.
Begonia serves as an honorific to Michel Bégon, an official in French King Louis XIV’s court who later became governor of Canada.
And finally, a rose is a rose is a rose...unless you’re trying to trademark a specialty variant. Fiercely guarded copyrights for rose subspecies include Mr. Lincoln, Barbara Bush, Julia Child, Barbra Streisand Audrey Hepburn, Woodrow Wilson, Pat Nixon, Louis Armstrong. We’re waiting for the P Diddy.
