Flower
Plants cultivated mainly for showy blooms, whether for gardens, cut-flower trade, or pollinator support. Ornament and visual impact outweigh culinary or medicinal uses. The tag also covers plants whose inflorescences, rather than foliage, deliver primary aesthetic appeal.
-
![]()
Guelder Rose: The Powerful Symbolism of a Plant in Ukraine and Russia
The guelder rose has evolved from a prehistoric European food and fuel plant into a powerful Ukrainian emblem of homeland, resistance, and identity. Its striking morphology underpins centuries of symbolism in songs, art, and literature across Ukraine and Russia, now crystallized in contemporary patriotic culture.
flower, fruit, medicinal, ornamental, shrub, temperate -
![]()
Guelder Rose: The Powerful Symbolism of a Plant in Ukraine and Russia (2 Column Layout)
The guelder rose has evolved from a prehistoric European food and fuel plant into a powerful Ukrainian emblem of homeland, resistance, and identity. Its striking morphology underpins centuries of symbolism in songs, art, and literature across Ukraine and Russia, now crystallized in contemporary patriotic culture.
flower, fruit, medicinal, ornamental, shrub, temperate -
![]()
Heliconia: Evolution at Work
Heliconias, known for their striking tropical beauty, have long been popular in gardens but understudied by scientists due to collection challenges. This story highlights recent discoveries that reveal their complex relationships with animals and their remarkable role in shaping ecosystems.
flower, ornamental, tropical -
![]()
Jasmine: The Sensual and the Sacred
Jasmine, native to Central and South Asia, has spread worldwide through trade, empire, and cultivation. Its fragrance and beauty have made it central to religion, art, politics, and daily life—from Hindu and Buddhist rituals to Islamic gardens, from Chinese jasmine tea to French perfumery. Across cultures it symbolizes purity, sensuality, devotion, and transience, while also serving as adornment, medicine, and a political emblem, as in Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution.”
flower, medicinal, ornamental, shrub, subtropical, tropical -
![]()
Opium Poppy: A Cursed Beauty
The opium poppy has a long, complex history—as a sacred medicinal plant, a source of artistic inspiration, and a driver of addiction and conflict. This story traces its journey from ancient ritual use to modern controversy, revealing shifting perceptions of the poppy as both a symbol of beauty and a global blight.
flower, ornamental, psychoactive, medicinal -
![]()
Passionflower: Christian Curiosity, Exotic Vine, Tropical Fruit
The passionflower (Passiflora), native to the Neotropics, has carried shifting meanings across cultures. Indigenous peoples used it for food and medicine, while Europeans saw symbols of Christ’s Passion in its flowers. By the Victorian era, it was reinterpreted as a sign of exotic beauty and sensuality, spreading into gardens, decorative arts, and poetry. Today, with over 500 species and 400 hybrids, passionflowers are cultivated worldwide for their striking flowers and edible fruits, now celebrated globally as passionfruit.
flower, fruit, medicinal, ornamental, tropical, vine -
![]()
Peony: Pretty and Powerful
Peonies are prized today for their stunning blooms, but they also have a rich medicinal legacy spanning over 2,000 years in Europe and Asia. This story uncovers lesser-known episodes in peony’s history, including its use in healing remedies like a “miraculous” infant convulsion powder.
flower, ornamental, temperate -
![]()
Sunflower: Knowledge, Myth, and Meaning
The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is instantly recognizable and widely celebrated in art and imagery, often overshadowing the plant itself. This story traces the sunflower’s cultural and visual history, revealing how its striking form helped shape myths, meanings, and botanical understanding over time.
flower, oilseed, ornamental, temperate -
![]()
The Corpse Flower - Amorphophallus titanium
The corpse flower, known for its massive size and foul odor, draws huge crowds when it blooms—an event that happens only once every 5 to 10 years. This story explores the plant’s rare and spectacular flowering, its unique pollination strategy, and its rising popularity as a star attraction at botanic gardens across the U.S.
flower, ornamental, tropical -
![]()
The Gulmohar: Becoming Native
This article explores the history and cultural significance of the Gulmohar tree (Delonix regia), tracing its journey from Madagascar to India through colonial botanical networks in the nineteenth century.
flower, ornamental, subtropical, tree, tropical
