Don't pick the wrong color when giving carnations as a gift; different colors have different meanings

Every Mother's Day, if you're a dutiful child, you'll surely prepare a bouquet ofcarnationsto give to your mother as a token of your feelings. In fact, from the establishment of Mother's Day in 1913 to now, the history of carnations symbolizing maternal love is only a little over a hundred years.

American woman Ann Reeves Jarvis selflessly helped many impoverished mothers during the American Civil War. To commemorate her and other mothers who contributed quietly behind the scenes, people established "Mother's Day." In American popular tradition, the white carnation that Jarvis loved most in life became the symbol commemorating the greatness of maternal love, and this trend later spread throughout the world.

"Carnation" is a transliteration of "carnation," which originally comes from "coronation"; another theory says it comes from the Latin "carn" (flesh), because wild carnations are mostly pink to flesh-red in color. Although this name sounds quite exotic, its formal Chinese name is very plain, called "Xiangshizhu”。

Wild Xiangshizhu. Doesn't it look a bit different from the carnations you see in flower shops? Image: Zeynel Cebeci / wikimedia

The Sacred Flower

Xiangshizhu (Dianthus caryophyllus) is thetype speciesof the genus Dianthus in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean coast, and its cultivation history is quite long, traceable back more than two thousand years.

The calyx of Xiangshizhu is cylindrical, and the edges of its obovate petals are serrated, looking like thepencil shavings。

A relatively common carnation variety. Image: Yakovlev Sergey / wikimedia

The genus name Dianthus was first created by the ancient Greek scholar Theophrastus, with etymology from the Greek dios (sacred, also referring to Zeus) and anthos (flower), so it means"the flower dedicated to Zeus". Xiangshizhu has a pleasant fragrance and was often used in making sacredcrownsto give to those warriors who won championships in athletic competitions.

Carnations also have countless ties with religion. Christians believe that when the Virgin Mary wept as Jesus suffered carrying the cross, the tears that fell to the ground grew into carnations, so carnationsare regarded by Christianity as the sacred flower. Islamic doctrine forbids idol worship, so human or animal figures are rarely seen in the decorative patterns of mosque architecture, but floral patterns with geometric motifs are still permitted, and designs ofcarnation patternscan often be seen existing there.

A mosque lamp (mosque lamp) with carnation and hyacinth patterns. Image: iznikclassics.com

A plant with a name similar to Xiangshizhu isShizhu(Dianthus chinensis). It is a traditional flower cultivated for ornamental purposes in China since ancient times. Shizhu gets its name from its stems, which grow upward joint by joint, somewhat resembling bamboo nodes, except that Shizhu stems are more slender and brittle, and can be broken with a gentle snap.Shizhu cannot compare with Xiangshizhu in rich fragrance, and its flowers are also less elaborate and gorgeous than the latter's.

Shizhu petals also have serrated edges. Image: Jjw & James Sowerby & William Curtis / wikimedia

Don't give the wrong color

Wild Xiangshizhu blooms withsingle petals, or even only a monotonouspeach pink(as in the first image), very different from the carnations seen on the market now. At present, carnations, as a mainstream cut flower, have been bred intocountless horticultural varieties with myriad forms and different colors, and as early as the 17th century, horticulturists in England and the Netherlands had already cultivated more than 300 varieties of carnations, more than the varieties of monthly roses at that time.

The flower forms of carnationsrange from single-petaled to double-petaled, and the flower colors also include red, white, purple, yellow, and green; red alone has dozens of varieties in different shades. At the same time, thepatterns on the petals also differ; some varieties have irregular spots on the petals, while others have a band of color along the edge, forming a strong contrast with the petal color, called "picotee."

Horticultural varieties of carnations in various colors. Image: Kenraiz & Dezidor & Pagemoral & Lmbuga / wikimedia

Nowadays, thanks to greenhouse cultivation, we can buy the freshest carnation cut flowers all year round. Carnations of different colors represent different meanings, and their meanings also differ in different countries and on different occasions, so it's worth learning about themto avoid mistakes that cause embarrassment。

For Mother's Day,pink or bright redcarnations symbolize fervent and warm maternal love. If the mother has already passed away, it is suitable to wearwhitecarnations;light redcarnations represent admiration,purplecarnations mean fickleness,stripedcarnations represent refusal and regret,yellowcarnations represent dejection;greencarnations are a symbol of homosexuality, first popularized by the famous Irish gay writerOscar Wildewearing them. Of course, if it's just for everyday display on a desk, there's no need to distinguish so much; a mishmash looks best.

Green carnations paired with Guokr Store's Year of the Dog red envelope. Image: Yeyoushen No. 4

Who are the "Nadeshiko" among flowers?

Japan has traditionally called quiet, gentle, and virtuous women"Yamato Nadeshiko", for example Yasujiro Ozu's muse Setsuko Hara was a Yamato Nadeshiko of the Showa era. But did you know that Yamato Nadeshiko originally referred to a plant called Dianthus longicalyx.

Dianthus longicalyx(Dianthus longicalyx) is not a wheat at all, but a bona fidemember of the Caryophyllaceae; it got its name only because the state of its tubular calyx wrapping the fruit resembles wheat. They are distributed across East Asian countries and generally grow by riversides with clear flowing water, so they are also called"Kawara Nadeshiko". The Nara-period Japanese poet Yamanoue no Okura mentioned the "seven grasses of autumn" in the Man'yoshu - bush clover [qiu], plume grass, kudzu, nadeshiko, maidenflower, fujibakama [ku], and morning glory - among which nadeshiko refers to Dianthus longicalyx. The Shizhu mentioned earlier was only introduced to China from Japan during the Tang Dynasty, so it was called "Tang Nadeshiko."

Dianthus longicalyx. Image: C T Johansson / wikimedia

There is also a plant calledQumai(Dianthus superbus), also known as "Yamato Nadeshiko." Qumai has 5 narrow, long pink petals, deeply fringed into tassel-like forms, making it unforgettable.

Qumai. Image: Stan Shebs / wikimedia

Maternal love is an eternal theme

Back to maternal love. Xiangshizhu was only introduced to China in the late Qing Dynasty, and at that time it did not yet carry the meaning of symbolizing maternal love. However, China has also had a flower symbolizing maternal love since ancient times -daylily(Hemerocallis fulva). Ancient literati liked to use the daylily to praise the greatness of maternal love. The Book of Songs says, "The northern hall is dark, one may plant daylilies there." Travelers far from home would plant daylilies in the "northern hall" where their mother lived, to show filial devotion and lessen their mother's longing for her traveling child. Over time,mothers were also called "Xuantang"。

The poet Meng Jiao's most widely recited line, "Who says the heart of a tiny blade of grass can repay the spring sunlight?", here"tiny blade of grass" originally refers to the daylily. Another poem he wrote, "Poem of a Traveler," makes it even more obvious that the poet uses the daylily to express love for his mother: "Daylilies grow on the hall steps, the traveler roams to the ends of the earth. The kind mother leans against the hall door, not seeing the daylily flowers."

The daylily is a perennial plant of the genus Hemerocallis in the family Hemerocallidaceae, native to our country, with a very long cultivation history. The picture shows the double-petaled daylily variety "Kwanso." Image: i_am_jim / wikimedia

Of course, whether it is the daylily or the carnation, what they carry is people's respect and love for mothers and their praise of maternal love. Just as Jarvis's daughter said in an interview: "Because the petals of the carnation do not droop, but embrace the flower center until they wither, just like a mother embracing her child, maternal love never fades."

Of course, don't wait until it's time to give flowers to remember to express your love to your mother. Image: pxhere.com

This article is the 236th article in the 4th year of Species Calendar, from Species Calendar author @JinjideDuorou.

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