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WATER LILY.

The marvelous water lily, or, as it is also called, the water lily (a relative of the famous Egyptian lotus), according to the Greek myth, arose from the body of a lovely nymph who died of love for Hercules, who remained indifferent to her.
AT Ancient Greece the flower was considered a symbol of beauty and eloquence. Young girls wove garlands from them, decorated their heads and tunics with them; they even wove a wreath of water lilies for the beautiful Helen on the day of her wedding to King Menelaus and decorated the entrance to their bedroom with a wreath.

The leaf of the water lily is floating like a raft, outwardly simple, heart-shaped and thick, like a flat cake; there are air cavities inside it, therefore it does not sink. There is several times more air in it in order to hold its own weight, the excess of which is necessary for unforeseen accidents: if, say, a bird or a frog sits down, the sheet must hold them.

Once upon a time, there was such a belief: water lilies descend under water at night and turn into beautiful mermaids, and with the advent of the sun, mermaids turn into flowers again. In ancient times, the water lily was even called the mermaid flower.
Maybe that's why botanists gave the name to the water lily "Nymphea Candida", which means "white nymph" (nymph - mermaid).

In Germany, it was said that once a little mermaid fell in love with a knight, but he did not reciprocate her feelings. From grief, the nymph turned into a water lily.
There is a belief that nymphs (mermaids) hide in flowers and on the leaves of water lilies, and at midnight they begin to dance and drag people passing by the lake with them. If someone managed to somehow escape from them, then grief will dry him up later.

According to another legend, water lilies are the children of a beautiful countess, carried away into mud by a swamp king. Heartbroken, the Countess went daily to the shore of the swamp. One day she saw a marvelous White color ok, the petals of which resembled the complexion of her daughter, and the stamens of her golden hair.

There are also legends that say that each water lily has its own elf friend (little man), who is born together with the flower, and dies together. Corollas of flowers serve the elves as both a home and a bell. During the day, the elves sleep in the depths of the flower, and at night they swing the pestle and call, calling their brothers for a quiet conversation. Some of them sit in a circle on a leaf, hanging their legs into the water, while others prefer to talk, swaying in the corollas of water lilies.
Gathering together, they sit in capsules and row, row with petal oars, and the capsules then serve them as boats or boats. The conversations of the elves take place at a late hour, when everything on the lake has calmed down and plunged into a deep sleep.

Lake elves live in underwater crystal chambers built from shells. Pearls, yachts, silver and corals glisten around the halls. Emerald streams roll along the bottom of the lake, dotted with multi-colored pebbles, and waterfalls fall on the roofs of the halls. The sun shines through the water into these dwellings, and the moon and the stars call the elves to the shore.

The charm of the water lily acts charmingly not only on Europeans. There are many legends and legends about it among other peoples.
Here is what, for example, is said in the legend of the North American Indians.
Dying, the great Indian leader shot an arrow into the sky. The arrow really wanted to get two bright stars. They rushed after the arrow, but collided, and sparks fell on the ground from the collision. From these heavenly sparks, water lilies were born.

A powerful plant, and not just a beautiful flower, was considered a white lily among the Slavic peoples.
The water lily is nothing more than the famous fairy-tale weed-grass. Rumor ascribes to her magical properties. She can give strength to overcome the enemy, protect from troubles and misfortunes, but she can also destroy the one who was looking for her with unclean thoughts. A decoction of a water lily was considered a love drink, it was worn in an amulet on the chest as a talisman.
The Slavs believed that the water lily was able to protect people from various misfortunes and troubles while traveling. Going on a long journey, people sewed leaves and flowers of water lilies into small bags, carried water lilies with them as an amulet and firmly believed that this would bring them good luck and protect them from misfortunes.

There was also a kind of spell on this occasion: “I am riding in an open field, and grass is growing in an open field. I didn’t give birth to you, I didn’t water you. Overcome the grass! evil people: famously they wouldn’t think of me, they wouldn’t think bad; drive away the sorcerer-slander.
Overcome-grass! Overcome high mountains, low valleys, blue lakes, steep banks, dark forests, stumps and decks. I will hide you, overpowering grass, at the zealous heart all the way and all the way!

Unfortunately, in fact, a beautiful flower cannot even stand up for itself. And it is not he who should protect us, but we must protect him so that this miracle does not disappear, so that sometimes in the morning we can see how bright white stars appear on the surface of still dark water and, as if wide-open eyes look at beautiful world nature, which is even more beautiful because these flowers exist - white lilies.

A relative of our white water lily is the yellow water lily, which is popularly called the egg lily. The Latin name for the capsule is "nufar luteum". "Nyufar" comes from the Arabic word, which also means "nymph", "luteum" - "yellow".
At whatever time of the day you come to look at a blooming water lily, you will never find its flowers in the same position. All day long, the water lily follows the movement of the sun, turning its floating head towards its rays.

In the distant past, the entire coastal strip of Italy, from Pisa to Naples, was occupied by swamps. In all likelihood, the legend of the beautiful Melinda and the swamp king was born there. The king's eyes shimmered like phosphorescent rot, and instead of legs there were frog legs.
And yet he became the husband of the beautiful Melinda, whom he was helped to get by a yellow egg-pod, personifying treason and deceit from time immemorial.
Walking with her friends by the swampy lake, Melinda admired the golden floating flowers and, in order to pick one of them, stepped on the coastal stump, under the guise of which the lord of the bog was hiding. The "stump" went to the bottom and dragged the girl along with it, and in the place where she disappeared under water, snow-white flowers with a yellow core surfaced.
So after the lilies-pods appeared water lilies-water lilies, meaning in the ancient language of flowers: "You must never deceive me."

The pod blooms from late May to August. At this time, next to the floating leaves, you can see large yellow, almost spherical flowers sticking high on thick pedicels.

The capsule has long been considered traditional medicine healing plant. Both leaves were used, and a thick, up to 15 centimeters long, rhizome lying on the bottom, and large, well-smelling flowers reaching 5 centimeters in diameter.
They cut off the egg-pod and in order to decorate her dwelling with flowers. And in vain: the flowers of the capsule, like the white lily, do not stand in vases.
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Interest Ask how to distinguish between a lotus and a water lily.
lotus and water lily(in English water lily) at first glance are very similar, but there are differences. Even according to the taxonomy, lilies belong to the flowering department, and the lotus is angiosperms.

Here is how they are distinguished:
The leaves and flowers of the lotus are above the water, the leaves of the water lily float on the water.


The lotus has three kinds of leaves, and the water lily has one kind.
The lotus has a barrel-shaped pistil embedded in the receptacle. It is easy to distinguish from a water lily by the fruits-boxes.


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The stamens of the lotus are filamentous, while those of the water lily are lamellar.
The lotus needs warmth, and the water lily is able to withstand low temperatures. Different types of water lilies grow in our lakes and rivers, and lotuses only in warm regions.


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air_kiss:

Roses are the sisters of the dawn, they open in the first rays of dawn, in them - sadness and joy, in them - bright sadness, in them the smile of a child, in them - faith, hope, love. There are many legends about the rose - the queen of all flowers. And here is one of them.

St. Nicholas in a blizzard and bitter frost decided to take bread to the poor. But the hegumen forbade him to do so. At the same moment, a miracle happened - the bread turned into roses as a sign that the saint started a charitable deed.

The legend of tulips

They fill the soul with happiness

The mind is forced to rejoice,

Therefore, they must be listened to with the heart,

To perceive with an enthusiastic soul ...

From ancient times, a legend about them came to us.

Happiness was contained in the golden bud of a yellow tulip. No one could reach him, because there was no such force that could open his bud. But one day a woman with a child was walking through the meadow. The boy escaped from his mother's arms, ran up to the flower with a sonorous laugh, and the golden bud opened.

Carefree childish laughter did what no power could do. Since then, it has become customary to give tulips only to those who experience happiness.

The legend of forget-me-not

One day, the goddess of flowers Flora descended to earth and began to bestow names on flowers. She gave a name to all the flowers, did not offend anyone and wanted to leave, but suddenly she heard a faint voice behind her:

Forget me not Flora! Give me a name too...

Then Flora noticed a small blue flower in the forbs.

All right, said Flora, be forget-me-not. Together with the name, I will endow you with miraculous power - you will return the memory to those people who begin to forget their loved ones or their homeland.

The legend of pansies

The petals of the pansies were opened, and in the corollas white is the color of hope, yellow is surprise, purple is sadness.

There lived in the village a girl Anyuta with trusting radiant eyes.

She met on the way a young man who awakened feelings in her and disappeared. Anyuta waited for him for a long time in vain and died of anguish.

At the place of her burial, flowers appeared, in the tricolor petals of which hope, surprise and sadness were reflected.

Snowdrop Legend

Snowdrop is the first song of spring.

An ancient legend tells: when Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, it was snowing heavily, and Eve was very cold. Then, wanting to warm her with their attention, several snowflakes turned into flowers. Seeing them, Eva cheered up, she had hope. Therefore, the snowdrop has become a symbol of hope.

Flowers are wonderful. I have long been interested in legends and myths about flowers. Here I found a few of them. I think this is very interesting.

Jasmine

There is a very beautiful legend about jasmine... According to her, once all the flowers were white, but one day an artist appeared with a set of bright colors and offered to paint them in different colors that they wanted. Jasmine was closest to the artist; he wanted to be golden, the color of his favorite sun. But the artist did not like that the jasmine was superior to the rose, the queen of flowers, and as a punishment he left him to wait until the very end, taking up the coloring of all the other flowers. As a result, the yellow-gold paint chosen by Jasmine almost all went to dandelions. Jasmine did not again ask the artist to color him in yellow, and in response to the demand to bow, he answered the following: "I prefer to break, but not bend." So he remained a white fragile jasmine.

Poppy

When the Lord created the earth, animals and plants, everyone was happy, except for the Night. No matter how hard she tried to dispel her deep darkness with the help of stars and luminous bugs, she hid too many beauties of nature, which pushed everyone away from her. Then the Lord created Sleep, dreams and dreams, and together with the Night they became welcome guests. Over time, passions awakened in people, one of the people even planned to kill his brother. Sleep wanted to stop him, but the sins of this man prevented him from approaching. Then the Dream, in anger, stuck his magic wand into the ground, and the Night breathed life into it. The wand took root, turned green, and, retaining its sleep-inducing power, became a poppy.

Snowdrop

An ancient legend tells: when Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, it snowed and Eve froze. Then a few snowflakes, wishing to console her, turned into flowers. Seeing them, Eva cheered up, she had hope for better times. Hence the symbol of the snowdrop - hope.

And the Russian legend claims that one day the old woman Winter with her companions Frost and Wind decided not to let Spring come to earth. But the brave Snowdrop straightened up, spread its petals and asked for protection from the Sun. The sun noticed the Snowdrop, warmed the earth and opened the way for Spring.

Rose

The Greeks laid down their amazing legend about the origin of the rose: once, after the sea calmed down from the storm, sea foam washed up on the shores of Cyprus, from which the beautiful goddess of love Aphrodite arose. The angry Earth decided to create something similar and a rose flower appeared, the beauty of which defies even the beauty of the goddess. Another Greek epic claims that the rose flower was originally white, and appeared on earth as a result of drops of nectar that fell from Olympus. And when Aphrodite admired, fascinated by the beauty of the flower, and stretched out her hand to pick it, she pierced her fingers with sharp thorns and stained the rose with blood. Since then, red roses have appeared. Other ancient greek legend tells about the origin of the red rose from the white one through the fault of the god of love Eros. While performing a dance at a celebration in honor of love, Eros inadvertently knocked over an amphora with nectar. At the same moment, the white roses blooming around became scarlet and saturated with the unusual aroma of the divine drink.

The most touching is the legend of the ancient Romans, according to which the goddess of hunting, Diana, was jealous of Cupid for a young and beautiful nymph named Rosas. The militant Diana once waylaid the nymph alone, grabbed and threw it into the wild thickets of thorny bushes of wild rose. Wounded in blood by sharp thorns, the nymph Rosas could not get out, and having lost blood, she remained forever a prisoner of thorny thickets. Having learned about the terrible fate of his beloved, Cupid rushed to the crime scene. But realizing that he was late, he burst into tears from the bottom of his heart about the lost love. The inconsolable tears of a young man in love created a miracle: the thorny bushes were covered with fragrant and beautiful, like his Rosas, rose flowers.

Narcissus

Ancient Greek myth tells a story about a beautiful young man named Narcissus. Narcissus was the son of the Boeotian river god Cefiss Narcissus, youth, male, sculpture of the youth and nymph Liriope. The young man's parents turned to the oracle Tireseus, they were interested in his future. The soothsayer said that Narcissus would live to old age if he did not see his face (or his reflection). Narcissus grew up a young man of extraordinary beauty, and many women sought his love, but he was indifferent to everyone. When the nymph Echo fell in love with him, the narcissistic handsome man rejected her feelings. The nymph withered from hopeless passion and turned into an echo, but before her death she cursed the young man: "Let the one he loves not reciprocate Narcissus." And the women rejected by Narcissus demanded that the Goddess of Justice Nemesis punish him.

When, exhausted by the heat, Narcissus leaned down to drink from the stream, he saw his own reflection in its jets. Narcissus had never met such beauty before and therefore lost his peace. Every morning, a young man in love with his reflection came to the stream. Narcissus did not eat, did not sleep, he was unable to move away from the stream. So day after day the young man melted almost before our eyes, until he disappeared without a trace. And on the ground where he was last seen, a white flower of cold beauty grew. Since then, the mythical goddesses of retribution furies began to decorate their heads with wreaths of daffodils.

According to another legend, Narcissus had a twin sister, and after her unexpected death, he saw her features in his own reflection.

Pansies

According to the legend about the violet (about pansies): three periods of the life of the girl Anyuta with a kind heart and trusting eyes were reflected in the tricolor petals of the pansies. She lived in the village, believed every word, found an excuse for every deed. To my misfortune, she met an insidious seducer and fell in love with him with all her heart. And the young man was afraid of her love and hurried on the road, assuring that he would return soon. Anyuta looked at the road for a long time, quietly fading away from melancholy. And when she died, flowers appeared at the place of her burial, in the tricolor petals of which hope, surprise and sadness were reflected. This is a Russian legend about a flower.

Peony

And the Chinese have many beautiful fairy tales and legends about the peony. Here is one tale about a dedicated peony grower who bred an absolutely incredible variety. Naturally, and here there was a man who wanted to spoil it all, and what is especially unfortunate - he turned out to be a prince. So the gardener watched with tears as the vile scoundrel trampled and broke the flowers, but then he still could not stand it and beat the prince with a stick. Here, by the way, a peony fairy turned up, who magically restored everything that was broken and added a lot more that was not there. Naturally, the prince ordered the gardener to be executed and the garden to be destroyed, but then all the peonies turned into girls, waved their sleeves - there were so many of them that the unbalanced pion-hater was blown away by the wind, from which he crashed to death. The admiring public released the gardener, and he lived for a long time and continued his peony business.

Chrysanthemum

The legend says that in ancient times, when a cruel emperor ruled China, there was a rumor that a chrysanthemum grows on a certain island, from the juice of which you can make a life elixir. But only a person with with a pure heart otherwise the plant will lose its miraculous power. 300 boys and girls were sent to the island. It is only unknown whether they found that plant or not. No one returned, the mikado died, and the youth founded a new state on that island - Japan.

Lily of the valley

There is a belief that on bright moonlit nights, when the whole earth is enveloped in deep sleep, Holy Virgin, surrounded by a crown of silver lilies of the valley, sometimes appears to those of the happy mortals who are preparing unexpected joy. When the lily of the valley fades, a small round berry grows - flammable, fiery tears, with which the lily of the valley mourns the spring, the round-the-world traveler, scattering her caresses to everyone and not stopping anywhere. The lily of the valley in love also silently endured his grief, as he carried the joy of love. In connection with this pagan tradition, a Christian legend may have arisen about the origin of lily of the valley from burning tears. Holy Mother of God at the cross of her crucified son.

The ancient Romans believed that the lily-of-the-valley was the droplets of the fragrant sweat of the goddess of hunting Diana, who fell on the grass when she ran away from the Faun in love with her. In England, they said that lilies of the valley grow in the forest in those places where the fabulous hero Leonard defeated the terrible dragon. Other legends say that lilies of the valley grew from the beads of Snow White's crumbling necklace. They serve as flashlights for the gnomes. They live in small forest men - elves. Sunbeams hide in lilies of the valley at night. From another legend, we learn that lilies of the valley are Mavka's happy laughter, which scattered like pearls through the forest when she first felt the joy of love.

The Celts believed that this was nothing more, nothing less than the treasures of the elves. According to their legend, young hunters, having ambushed wild animals in the forest, saw an elf flying with a heavy burden in his hands, and tracked down his path. It turned out that he was carrying a pearl to a mountain of pearls that towered under an old sprawling tree. Unable to resist the temptation, one of the hunters decided to take a tiny mother-of-pearl ball for himself, but when touched, the mountain of treasures crumbled. People rushed to collect pearls, forgetting about precautions, and the elven king flew to the noise of their fuss, turning all the pearls into fragrant white flowers. And since then, elves have been taking revenge on greedy people for the loss of their treasure, and lilies of the valley love so much that each time they rub them with napkins woven from moonlight...

Olga Popkova
A conversation about flowers "Legends and stories about flowers"

The legend of the origin of flowers.

Flowers lived in Paradise, but one day they noticed that grief and sadness overcome people. Having descended to Earth, they strewn it with such a variety of herbs that these wonderful colors and intoxicating fragrance began to bring comfort to people.

Flowers- a symbol of the beauty of the world. They make our life richer and happier, awaken in a person a love for goodness, for everything beautiful. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, memorable dates... and all this is certainly accompanied flowers.

From ancient times flowers accompanied the solemn events in the life of a person who, in addition, attributed to them a mysterious power.

In India they considered: if a person sees how the lotus opens, then he will be happy all his life.

AT Ancient Russia believed that flower fern on the night of Ivan Kupala gives a person power and opens treasures, and water lily flower(overcome-grass)- protects from all evil.

Do you want to hear the story of how flowers on earth?

Ivan Tsarevich was returning from Baba Yaga, he reached a large river, but there was no bridge. He waved his handkerchief three times to the right side - a marvelous rainbow hung over the river, and he moved along it to the other side.

He waved twice to the left side - the rainbow became a thin, thin bridge. Baba Yaga rushed after Ivan Tsarevich along this little bridge, reached the middle, and take it and break it off! The rainbow crumbled on both sides of the river into small fragments flowers. Alone flowers there were good ones - from the traces of Ivan Tsarevich, and others - poisonous - this is where Baba Yaga stepped.

Everyone has flowers have their own legends, stories.

Legend of the aster.

Astra is a Greek word meaning "star". According to legend an aster grew from a speck of dust that fell from a star. These flowers They really do look like stars. There is a belief that if you stand among the asters at night and listen carefully, you can hear a barely perceptible whisper - this is how the asters communicate with sister stars.

Astra is an ancient plant. Image flower found in the royal tomb. According to scientists, the tomb was 2000 years old. It was decorated with patterns of plants, among which was the aster.

Astra was revered as an amulet protecting from troubles.

Astra is a passing beauty.

Astra with straight petals

It has been called a "star" since ancient times.

That's what you would call it yourself

In it, the petals scattered in rays

From its core is golden.

Twilight is approaching. Slim and sharp

In the sky of the constellations light sways.

Astra, in the flowerbed fragrant and pungent

Watching distant stars shine

How distant sisters shine

And sends greetings to them from the earth.

The legend of marigolds.

Marigolds - flowers in the flower beds, velvet to the touch. Loyalty symbol.

Marigolds came from America. So loved these flowers for its unpretentiousness, beauty, for the duration flowering, from spring to frost, that in the popular mind they were perceived as primordially "their", always growing near their home. And they are one of my favorites these days. colors, along with "local" pansies, a variety of daisies and bluebells, without which our flower beds cannot do.

Rose Legends.

This flower was born from sea foam along with Aphrodite and at first he was white, but from a drop of blood of the goddess of love and beauty, pricked on a thorn, he turned red. The ancients believed that this flower inspires courage and therefore, instead of helmets, they wore wreaths from these colors, their image was beaten out on shields, and the path of the winners was strewn with petals.

Rose is a companion of joyful celebrations. Wreaths of roses decorated brides. The door leading to the house was removed with roses, and the marriage bed was strewn with petals. The Greeks strewed roses on the path of the winner returning from the war and his chariot.

The legend of the chrysanthemum.

In the East this autumn the flower is called the white dragon flower. There is such legend: a cunning and evil white dragon, wanting to annoy people, decided to encroach on the Sun itself, but he chose prey beyond his strength. The dragon tore the Sun with its teeth and claws, and the hot sparks turned into flowers and fell to the ground.

Chrysanthemums - flowers short day , which is why they begin to bloom when the days are waning. Diversity colors don't stop to amaze and delight: white and cream, pink and bronze, yellow and orange, copper-red and lilac ... they alone are able to decorate the whole world, without repeating themselves and without tiring with monotony.

The legend of the dahlia.

The legend tells about, as in ancient times the dahlia was not as common as it is now. Then he was only the property of the royal gardens. The beauty of these beautiful colors had the opportunity to enjoy only the royal family and courtiers. Under the threat of death, no one had the right to take out or take out the dahlia from the palace garden.

A young gardener worked in that garden. And he had a beloved, whom he once gave, not being afraid of the ban, a beautiful flower. He secretly brought a dahlia sprout from the royal palace and planted it in the spring at the house of his bride. This could not remain a secret, and rumors reached the king that flower from his garden now grows outside of his palace. The king's anger knew no bounds. By his decree, the gardener was seized by the guards and put in prison, from where he was never destined to leave. BUT flower since then it has become the property of all who liked it. The gardener's name was George. In honor of the gardener, this one was named flower - dahlia.

Helenium autumn

Gelenium is a real gift of autumn. His flowers so numerous and beautiful that they are completely blossomed the bush looks like a festive fireworks of sunny yellow, brick-purple or orange-red splashes. Tall gelenium bushes resemble the shape of a large compact bouquet and invariably become an autumn decoration of any summer cottage. Gelenium will accompany us until the very frosts, collecting bees from all around and attracting glances with its joyful sunny flowering.

These cute touching flowers reminiscent of spring primroses. Delicate and light, they conquer with their defenselessness on the eve of winter, and the more striking is the contrast between warm purity petals and cold signs of nature's withering.

Name "anemone" (anemone) is of Greek origin its philosophical interpretation means approximately the following: "Gusts of wind, revealing flower, in the end, too, will carry off the withered petals. But, despite their visual fragility and the inevitable cold, anemones show amazing resilience and are very unpretentious in their care.

Zinnia graceful - one of the most beloved ornamental gardeners beautiful flowering annuals. By the way, zinnia is known to many under the common name "majors" or "Majoriki". These bright cheerful flowers, and really standing like soldiers at attention on their straight stems, blossom autumn flowerbed with all sorts of shades and will delight the whole of September with a rich stable flowering.

Due to its stability and unpretentiousness, zinnia is always a welcome guest at any summer cottage, and how butterflies and birds love it! Language colorsrewarded zinnia with its significant symbols:

white zinnias are a good attitude

red - constancy,

yellow - longing and thirst for a meeting,

pink - a symbol of memory of someone who is not around now.

autumn flowers…

Burgundy, yellow, red...

autumn flowers are beautiful.

Our distant ancestors did not doubt that plants did not come into this world by chance, they have a special meaning. The ways of their appearance were shrouded in mystery, giving rise to numerous theories, including "magical" ones. One of these symbols was the aster. flower legend, appearance which served as the source of the name, ascribes to it a divine origin. So where did this beautiful plant come from?

Flower Legend: Aster from Persephone

The most beautiful description of the history of this "star" plant went to our contemporaries from the inhabitants of Ancient Greece. It was they who first recorded explaining where the aster came from. The legend about the flower says that people should thank Persephone for it.

How is the eternally young goddess of spring connected with the appearance of this plant? Persephone - the unfortunate wife of Hades, who ruled underworld. He forcibly took her as his wife, kidnapping her mother Demeter. The gods ordered the young wife to spend at least half of her life (autumn and winter) in her husband's abode, so year after year she sank underground with the advent of cold weather.

And what about the aster? The legend of the flower claims that once at the end of August, the unfortunate goddess noticed a young man and a girl in love, who exchanged kisses, being hidden by the darkness of the night. Persephone, deprived of love and forced to soon go to Hades, sobbed in despair. The tears of the sufferer turned into star dust, falling to the ground and transforming into wonderful asters. It is not surprising that this plant has been associated with love by the Greeks since ancient times.

"Stars" found monks

Not only Persephone is "accused" of the appearance on our planet of such a miracle as an aster. The legend about the flower, which is popular in China, contains a different explanation. It all started with the journey of two Taoist priests who decided to reach the stars. The path of the monks, as one would expect, turned out to be long and difficult. They had to penetrate the juniper thickets, fall, slipping on icy paths, wander through the inhospitable forest.

Finally, the clergy climbed Mount Altai. Once at the top, they decided to rest, as their legs were torn to the blood, only tatters were left of their clothes. The monks with difficulty descended into the valley, where they saw a clear stream and a flowery meadow. And what about the legend of the flower? Astra turned out to be exactly the beautiful plant that travelers found in the valley. Noticing this miracle, they realized that there are stars not only in the sky.

The monks could not resist taking plant samples with them. They began to grow them on the monastic lands, having come up with a suitable name. Translated from Latin, the word "aster" means "star".

Aphrodite's gift

The people who once inhabited Ancient Greece were imaginative. It is not surprising that they offer another legend about the flower. Astra, as you know, is considered a symbol of the Virgo sign. People who are ruled by a romantic constellation will be interested to know why this particular plant was chosen for them.

It turns out that the ancient Greeks, who lived before our era, were actively interested in astrology, already had an idea about the constellation Virgo. It, in turn, was identified by the inhabitants ancient world with the goddess Aphrodite. The theory says that the tears shed over the death of a beautiful lover turned into cosmic dust. This is another legend about a flower (aster, as it turns out, has been popular for a long time) differs from the story, the heroine of which is Persephone. The dust settled on the ground, gradually transformed into a plant.

Astra in Ancient Greece

It was the first state whose inhabitants began to grow asters. Given the "divine" versions of the origin of "star" plants, there is nothing surprising in the fact that they were assigned special place. The legend about the autumn aster flower, which was believed in those days, claimed that it had the ability to ward off troubles from the house, drive away evil spirits. This explains the habit of the ancient Greeks to decorate house territories with these plants.

It is interesting that asters were brought to the Crimea from Greece. Evidence that the flower was grown by the Scythians was found in Simferopol. The excavations carried out there made it possible to discover drawings in which these plants appeared. They were located on the walls of the imperial tomb. Curiously, the Scythians saw the sun in this work of nature and also considered it a divine gift.

Symbol of love

In ancient Greece, temples glorifying the powerful and beautiful Aphrodite were widespread. As mentioned above, the legend about the autumn flower (astra means) assures that the tears of this one turned into a plant. This explains why it was chosen as a symbol, the drawings of which were decorated with altars. Parishioners visiting the temple of Aphrodite to offer prayers also wove the plant into their hair and clothes.

Not many people know that the aster was used during divination by young Greek women. Girls who wanted to start a family learned, thanks to a magical ritual, the name of their betrothed. The rite commanded to visit the garden at the height of the night, approach the flower bushes and listen carefully. It was believed that the asters would learn the name of the future bridegroom from the stars and inform the one who could hear their quiet whisper.

"Star" of the East

Not only the Greeks, but also the Chinese have been growing asters for many centuries, endowing these with a special meaning. From generation to generation, recommendations were passed on, describing how to make bouquets correctly. Favorable to this plant is the teaching of Feng Shui, which sees in it a symbol of love. According to Feng Shui, the "stars" help those who wish to activate the love sector. It should contain a bouquet.

The legend about a flower (an aster for children is also a kind of symbol), passed down in China from father to son, says that these gifts of nature save from evil demons. For protection, the inhabitants of the country burned the petals, scattering the ashes around the house.

It is interesting that "star" bouquets also help spouses whose feelings have faded over the years. There is even a recipe for a special flower petal salad that Chinese women have shared with their daughters for centuries. It is believed that it is enough to feed a chilled husband with such a dish so that he regains his lost ardor. Such food is also recommended for childless couples, as it kindles sexual desire, which will lead to the appearance of babies.

European traditions

The inhabitants of Europe also had an idea of ​​​​how magical the aster (flower) is. The legends and beliefs that surrounded him had a direct impact on European traditions. With the help of this plant, one could even express secret thoughts. The donor, presenting a bouquet of "stars", could tell the recipient about admiration, friendly respect, hidden love, and even report hatred. It all depended on how the bouquet was made. Most often, asters were presented to ladies by ardent gentlemen.

However, not all the inhabitants of Europe associated with love. In the eastern part, this plant was considered as a symbol of sadness, which was associated with sadness about the ending summer.

An interesting fact - the aster adorns the coat of arms of the Republic of Tatarstan, since in this country the flower symbolizes eternal life. Here it is also used to decorate houses, bringing prosperity to the family.

Myths about other colors

Of course, not only "stars" are surrounded by myths, they also have other legends and beliefs. Astra, for example, will not be able to compete in the number of origin stories with violets. One of the popular versions insists that these gifts of nature appeared thanks to Zeus. The Thunderer turned the daughter of Atlas into a violet, hiding from the enamored Apollo, but forgot to cast a spell on the girl.

Gladiolus is another record holder for the number of myths. The famous theory says that it arose on the planet as a result of a battle that took place between the Thracians and the Romans. After the victory of the Romans, many young Thracians turned out to be slaves, among them two friends. When a cruel ruler told them to fight to the death, they refused. The brave young men were slain, but the first gladioli grew from their fallen bodies.

This is how the most famous legends about the aster and other beautiful flowers look like.