Flower Stories

2 Oct 04 Flower Stories
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/16568/111294

Some flowers have stories other than those found in Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass where Lewis Carroll creates his own parodies with Alice trying bavely to go backwards to the future. Andersen also makes use of flowers for parody within his saga, The Snow Queen when Gerda is waylaid and trapped by the old woman into the magical garden where time remains in eternal spring. The roses are buried underground but suddenly bloom when Gerda's hot tears fall to the earth.

Ovid recorded some flower myths in the Metamorphoses, the most famous being Narcissus, the lovely white flower which grows by ponds. In Book IV, Ovid tells the story of Leucothoe who falls in love with the sun. This arouses the jealousy of Clytie who also yearns for the warm embrace of the sun. Leucothoe is buried alive by her father as a consequence of Sol's seduction. The sun hearing her cries from the earth had mercy on her, but could not bring her back to life. To reduce her agony, he tansformed her to a a sweet smelling tree, the Boswellian but her name is transferred to the genus of daisies that litter the meadows in spring—the ox-eyed daisy.

Clytie however, for her wagging tongue, was disdained by he sun and wilted away to become a flower that ever turns its face in yearning to the sun, the heliotrope. But the myth brings an array of gardener's confusion for identification for the sunflower, the marigold and violet and valerian are all associated to this myth as well as the members of the borage family. The helicanthe, the giant sunflower used for birdseed and oils, is a North American native and so adds further confusion to interpretation of the myth.

Moeover, the flower not mentioned in the various seductions of Apollo and Helios/Sol is the dandelion which is known the world around for its golden mane. Not known the origin of the French etymology, the name was always easy for kids to remember as Dandy Lion. The flower is associated to St Francis because it blooms twice and the more you try to stomp it out, the more it flourishes. It is also valuable herbal, providing greens for salads. each part of the flower can be used. The roots have been used to make an ersatz coffee and the flowers are used by Central Europeans to make a fine honey and wine.

Leucothoe—heath family
http://www.mikebaker.com/plants/Leucothoe_racemosa.html

Leucothoe --ferrerbush
http://www.georgian.edu/pinebarrens/bi_p_lra.htm

Chrysanthemum Leucothoe Ox-eyed daisy
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/32/32.1.html

Wild flowers-Ox-eyed Daisy
http://knps.org/Wildflowers/oxeyed.htm

Valerian
http://www.monasheetourism.com/PlantsandFlowers/T%20130%20Sitka%20Valerian.jpg

valerian pink
http://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/valerian.html

Helianthe one of many sunflowers
http://www.ouellette001.com/flore/Groupes/Spermatophytes/Angiospermes/Dicotyles/103Composees/images/Figure_208.jpg

http://www.ouellette001.com/flore/Groupes/Spermatophytes/Angiospermes/Dicotyles/103Composees/30_Helianthus/Genre.htm

Heliotrope
http://www.gardenerspath.com/plantguide/heliotrope.html

Heliotrope
http://www.indiana.edu/~libwylie/heliotrope.html

Borage
http://www.gardenerspath.com/plantguide/borage.html

Marigold
http://www.uq.net.au/hyperlinked/Herbs/marigold.htm
another very valuble herb

Dandelion
http://www.westol.com/~pennwest/wildflowers/dandelion.html
an extremely valuable herb

Dandelion
http://www.uq.net.au/hyperlinked/Herbs/dandelion.htm

Dandelion page
http://www.theherbspecialist.com/dandelion.html
to make honey—collect the flowers when they ae heavy with pollen. Place them in a ceramic bowl or ceramic lined pan and cover with water. Add a little sugar for sweetness—using a brown sugar or rougher form of beet sugar is preable to white crystal. squeeze in a taste of lemon juice—one or two lemons. Cover loosely with a dishtowel. wait three days. Strain flowers. Strain again through a fine cotton cloth to catch residue. Simmer slowly until the liquid turns into a fine honey.


Garden of Live Flowers illus
http://www.kellscraft.com/throughthelookingglassch2.html

Garden of Flowers
http://wyllie.lib.virginia.edu:8086/perl/toccer-new?id=CarGlas.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=2&division=div1
illustrated the illustrations enlarge

University of Virginia Etext Library Through the Looking-Glass
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/CarGlas.html
title of contents Published: 1862-1863 illus Tenniel

University of Virginia: Alice in Wonderland 1866
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/CarAlic.html

Literature Net : Through the Loooking-Glass
http://www.literature-web.net/carroll/lookingglass
searchable version with short bio of Lewis Carroll

RELATED
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Snow Queen : Old Woman's Garden
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/fairytales_myths_fables_&legends/106388

Lewis and Alice Expedition Through the Looking-glass
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/fairytales_myths_fables_&legends/105856