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 it, 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 paint him 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.
the 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. Another ancient Greek legend tells of the origin of a red rose from a 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 a pure heart should pick a flower, 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 covered in deep sleep, the Blessed Virgin, surrounded by a crown of silver lilies of the valley, sometimes appears to those happy mortals for whom unexpected joy is preparing. 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 to the noise of their fuss, the elven king flew in, 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 every time they rub them with napkins woven from moonlight...
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.
V 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 wonderful white flower, the petals of which resembled the complexion of her daughter, and the stamens - 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 magical properties to it. 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 the beautiful world of nature, which is even more beautiful because that 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 a medicinal plant in folk medicine. 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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An interesting question is 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:
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 by 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.
In ancient Russia, they 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 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, as well as "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 - short day flowers, 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. A 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.
Roses are the sisters of the dawn, they open in the first rays of dawn, they contain sadness and joy, they contain bright sadness, they contain the smile of a child, they contain 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.
Aster - aster in the language of the ancient Romans means "star". At dusk, when the thin and sharp light of bright constellations sways in the sky, the aster seems to send greetings from the earth to her distant sisters, who are so similar to her. The Oneida Indians have such a tradition. The young hunter fell in love with the girl, and she was indifferent to him. - If I knock down a star from the sky, will you become mine? he asked the proud beauty. No one else from their tribe could make the bride happy with such a gift, and the girl, thinking that the hunter was just a braggart, agreed. When the Indians from the neighboring wigwams found out about this, they began to laugh at the young man. But the hunter stood his ground. “Come to the big meadow in the evening,” he said. When in the evening they flashed in the sky bright stars, all the men from the Oneida tribe gathered to see if the young hunter could fulfill his promise. The young man raised his bow, pulled the string and sent an arrow up. And a moment later, high in the sky, a silver star shattered into small sparks - it was struck by a hunter's well-aimed arrow. Only the desired happiness was bypassed. God got angry at a mere mortal who dared to shoot down the stars from the sky. After all, if other lovers also follow his example, then there will be no stars left in the sky at all, and the moon will hardly survive ... And he sent a terrible storm to the earth. For three days and three nights a fierce hurricane raged, everything on earth was shrouded in thick darkness, the sea overflowed its banks, and where there was an ocean before, dry land formed, and trees fell with a groan into the water, a steep wave carried away Indian huts, turned over fragile pirogues, on which people tried to escape ... When the storm subsided, no one could find the daredevil who knocked down a star from the sky. He turned into a small silver flower, which the Indians gave a name - a shooting star.MAGNOLIA
According to Chinese legends, in ancient times, evil Honghuzi attacked a peaceful Chinese village, killed men, old people and children, took cattle, destroyed rice crops, and one hundred of the most beautiful girls were tied up and left in the square. Ninety-nine days and nights the invaders had fun, and every morning they killed one of the captives. When the time came to die last, she hugged the ground on which the dead bodies of her friends lay, and began to lament bitterly: “Native land! You raised our fathers and mothers, you saw death and our torment. Do not allow decay to devastate our young bodies. Don't let us disappear forever!" And when the drunken hunghuses woke up the next morning, there was not a single girl in the square, only a large beautiful tree grew there, and a hundred beautiful white and pink buds were ready to open on it in all their splendor. The robbers in wild anger cut the tree into pieces and scattered it on fast horses over the steppes and foothills. But where a part of the magic tree fell, a new plant appeared in that place, on which a hundred tender buds, a hundred resurrected girlish hearts, bloomed every spring. This tree was a magnolia.TULIP
Once upon a time, human happiness was hidden in tightly compressed tulip buds. And no one by force or cunning could get to him. One day a beggar woman with a golden-haired child was walking through the meadow. She did not even think of getting to the heart of the tulip and taking her happiness from there. But the baby escaped from her hands and, laughing, rushed to the marvelous flower. The tulip, seeing the purity of the child's feelings, opened its petals. Now, in early spring, these delicate flowers readily open their hearts to us and give happiness to anyone who yearns for it.KNAPWEED
Ancient Russian legend: Once the sky reproached the grain field with ingratitude. “Everything that inhabits the earth thanks me. Flowers send their fragrances to me, forests - their mysterious whispers, birds - their singing, and only you do not express gratitude and stubbornly remain silent, although it is no one else, but it is I who fill the roots of cereals with rainwater and make the golden ears ripen. “I am grateful to you,” answered the field. - I decorate the arable land with waving greenery in spring, and in autumn I cover it with gold. There is no other way I can express my gratitude to you. I have no way to ascend to you; give it, and I will shower you with caresses and talk about love for you. Help me". "Heaven well agreed, - if you cannot ascend to me, then I will descend to you." And ordered the earth to grow magnificent blue flowers, pieces of himself. Since then, the ears of cereals, with every breath of the breeze, bow to the messengers of heaven - cornflowers, and whisper tender words of love to them.CHAMOMILE
A girl lived in the world, and she had a favorite - Roman, who made gifts for her with his own hands, turned every day of the girl's life into a holiday! Once Roman went to bed - and he dreamed of a simple flower - a yellow core and white rays that diverged to the sides from the core. When he woke up, he saw a flower next to him and gave it to his girlfriend. And the girl wanted all people to have such a flower. Then Roman went in search of this flower and found it in the country of Eternal Dreams, but the king of this country did not give the flower just like that. The ruler told Roman that the people would get a whole field of chamomile if the young man stayed in his country. The girl waited for her beloved for a very long time, but one morning she woke up and saw a huge white-yellow field outside the window. Then the girl realized that her Roman would never return and named the flower in honor of her beloved - Chamomile! Now the girls are guessing on a camomile - "Loves does not love!"CHRYSANTHEMUM
In the east, this flower, which is already 2,500 years old, was erected to an unattainable height. Chrysanthemum was given the status of a national symbol. In Japan, this flower is present on the national emblem of the country, on documents of national importance, on the highest Japanese order, which is called the "Order of Chrysanthemums". There is a national holiday of chrysanthemums, which is celebrated in October. Still arguing about whether China or Japan is the birthplace of chrysanthemums? In both countries, these flowers are loved and bred. But this is what one legend has preserved for us. Once upon a time, many centuries ago, a mighty emperor ruled in China. He was not afraid of anything in the world, except for old age, and he thought of only one thing: to rule and live as long as possible. And so he called his chief physician and ordered to prepare a drug that would prolong his youth. The cunning doctor bowed low before the emperor: - Oh, mighty lord, - he said. - I could prepare such an elixir, but for this you need to get wonderful flowers that grow in the east, on distant islands ... - I will order those flowers to be delivered immediately! cried the emperor. “Oh, if only it were that easy,” the doctor sighed. - The whole secret is that a person with a pure heart should pick them - only then the plant will give its miraculous power ... The emperor thought: he knew that neither he nor his courtiers were fit to fulfill this condition. And then he decided to send 300 boys and 300 girls to the islands: surely among them there are many people with a pure heart! They did just that - they equipped many ships and sent them, led by the imperial doctor, to the islands - to where Japan is now located. On one of them they found a beautiful flower - a chrysanthemum and could not stop admiring it! “I don’t know if this flower is suitable for an elixir,” exclaimed the doctor, “but, without a doubt, it pleases the heart and rejuvenates the soul!” The wise doctor knew well the insidious and cruel disposition of his emperor. “Surely,” he thought, “the emperor will think that my companions and I were the first to try the elixir, and will order us all to be executed as soon as he receives the drug.” And then everyone decided not to go back. They stayed on the islands and founded a new state there. It is not known whether they prepared a wonderful elixir or not, but the chrysanthemum has become their favorite flower...GLADIOLUS
Among the Romans, gladiolus was considered the flower of gladiators. According to legend, the cruel Roman commander captured the Thracian warriors and ordered them to be turned into gladiators, and the commander ordered the most beautiful, brave, dexterous and loyal friends Sevtus and Teresa to fight each other first, promising that the winner would receive the hand of his daughter and be released to freedom. Many curious townspeople converged to look at this spectacle. However, they did not see what they wanted: when the battle trumpets blew, calling the brave warriors to battle, Sevt and Teres stuck their swords into the ground and rushed to each other with open arms. The crowd roared indignantly. The trumpets sounded again, demanding a duel, and when the soldiers again did not satisfy the expectations of the bloodthirsty Romans, they were put to death. But as soon as the bodies of the defeated touched the ground, blooming gladioli grew from the hilts of their swords, which to this day are considered a symbol of friendship, loyalty, memory and nobility.DAISY
The flower got its name "daisy" from the Greek word margarites - "pearl". This flower has a very beautiful legend about its origin. When, having learned the good news from the Archangel Gabriel, the Blessed Virgin went to Elizabeth, everywhere where the foot of the future Mother of God stepped, small white flowers grew. White, in the form of radiance, the petals spoke of the glory of God, and the golden mean - of the sacred fire that burned in the heart of Mary. There is another legend about the origin of daisies. The Blessed Virgin, while still a child, looked at the sky at night, and She wished that the wonderful stars would become earthly flowers. Then the stars were reflected in brilliant drops of dew, and in the morning the earth was strewn with white flowers. And since the buds of daisies look like stars, people to this day believe that these flowers keep the secret of human happiness, and ask about it, counting their petals. Romantic knights, for whom the Virgin Mary served as an ideal, chose the humble daisy as their flower. According to custom, a knight in love brought a bouquet of daisies to the lady of the heart. If the lady dared to answer "yes", she chose the largest daisy from the bouquet and gave it to the man. From that moment on, he was allowed to draw a daisy on his shield - a sign of mutual love. But if the lady was indecisive, she wove a wreath of daisies and gave it to the knight. Such a gesture was not considered a categorical refusal, and sometimes, until the end of his life, the owner of a wreath of daisies waited for the favor of a cruel lady.PEONY
Once the goddess Flora was going on a long journey and during her absence she decided to choose a replacement for herself. She informed the flowers about her decision and gave them 48 hours to consider a candidate for such an honorary post. At the appointed hour, everyone gathered in the forest clearing. The flowers were dressed in their brightest outfits, shone with freshness and were fragrant with various aromas. However, no one had any doubt that only a beautiful rose could replace Flora. It has no equal in beauty, aroma and grace of a flower. One peony thought otherwise. He puffed up as much as possible to outdo the rose with the pomp and size of the flower. He looked at everyone with pride and contempt, no doubt that it was he who was worthy to be the rival of the rose. And when Flora crowned the rose with her wreath, he alone shouted: "I do not agree!" The goddess got angry. "Stupid flower," she told him. For your self-satisfaction, always remain so bloated and fat. May butterflies and bees never visit you. You will be a symbol of pride, conceit and swagger. Peony blushed with shame at these words.FORGET-MENT
How the forget-me-not got its name is told in one ancient Roman legend. One day, the goddess of vegetation, Flora, descended to earth and began to bestow names on flowers. She named all the flowers and was about to leave, but suddenly she heard a weak voice: - Do not forget about me, Flora! Give me a name too! With difficulty, the goddess saw a small blue flower in the forbs. - Well, - the goddess took pity, - be Forget-me-not. Together with the name, I endow you with wonderful power: you will return the memory to those people who begin to forget their homeland or their loved ones.GINSENG
A long time ago, no one remembers when, two ancient Chinese families Xi Liadnji and Liang Seer lived next door. In the family of Xi Lianji, a fearless warrior named Ginseng was famous. He was brave and kind, defended the weak, helped the poor. These qualities passed to him from his ancestors, who descended from the king of forest animals - the tiger. Warrior Song Shiho - a representative of the Liang Seer clan - unlike Ginseng, was insidious, evil, cruel and rude, but very handsome and stately. One day a terrible monster attacked the country - a yellow dragon. All the men rose to fight the monster, and only Song Shiho went over to the camp of the enemy and became a loyal assistant to the yellow dragon. Ginseng, on the other hand, volunteered to fight the dragon one on one. Desperately fought with the dragon Ginseng. The monster spewed flames at him, scratched him with claws, but Ginseng survived. And not only survived, but also threw the enemy to the ground. And the traitor Song Shi-ho Ginseng captured and tied to a rock, so that later he could be judged by the court of the people. But the captured Song Shiho was seen by Ginseng's sister, the beautiful Liu La, and fell in love at first sight. At night, she crept up to the rock, cut the rope that the prisoner was tied to, helped deceive the vigilant guards, and rode away with Song Shiho. Ginseng rushed in pursuit of the fugitives and overtook them. Nearer and nearer came the sound of his horse's hooves. And now Liu La, in fright, hid behind a rock, and the soldiers, dismounting, began the duel. They fought for a long time, but Ginseng was a more experienced and courageous warrior: he began to win. Here he raised his sword for the last fatal blow. Liu La screamed in horror. Ginseng shuddered (after all, his sister was screaming), looked around and then received a treacherous blow in the back. Song Shiho was ready to celebrate victory, but, mortally wounded, Ginseng straightened up and plunged his sword into the traitor's chest up to the hilt. And then life left him. Liu La bitterly mourned the death of her brother and beloved. Then she gathered her strength and buried them, but did not leave this terrible place, but spent the night nearby. And the next morning, at the burial site of Ginseng, she saw a plant that had never been seen before, which grew there overnight (the plant grew only on the grave of the hero Ginseng, the grave of the traitor Song Shiho was overgrown with grass). So people called this amazing plant ginseng, in memory of the hero from the Xi Liangji clan.Orchid
Long ago, long before humans existed, the only visible parts of the earth were the snow-capped peaks of high mountains. From time to time the sun thawed the snow, thus causing the water to descend from the mountains in a stormy stream, forming amazing waterfalls. Those, in turn, rushed towards the seas and oceans with seething foam, after which, evaporating, they formed curly clouds. These clouds, in the end, completely blocked the view of the earth from the sun. Once the sun wanted to pierce this impenetrable cover. There was heavy tropical rain. After him, a huge rainbow formed, embracing the entire sky. Fascinated by the hitherto unseen spectacle, the immortal spirits, then the only inhabitants of the earth, began to flock to the rainbow from all, even the most remote, edges. Everyone wanted to grab a place on the colorful bridge. They pushed and fought. But then everyone sat down on the rainbow and sang in unison. Little by little, the rainbow sagged under their weight, until, finally, it collapsed to the ground, crumbling into a myriad of small multi-colored sparks. Immortal spirits, who had never seen anything like it before, watched the fantastic colorful rain with bated breath. Every particle of the earth gratefully accepted the fragments of the heavenly bridge. Those that were caught by the trees turned into orchids. From this began the triumphal procession of orchids across the earth. There were more and more multi-colored lanterns, and not a single flower dared to challenge the right of an orchid to be called the queen of the flower kingdom.LILY
In ancient German mythology, the thunder god Thor was always depicted holding a lightning bolt in his right hand, and a scepter topped with a lily in his left. She also adorned the brow of the ancient inhabitants of Pomerania during the festivities in honor of the goddess of spring, and her fragrant aureole served in the German fairy-tale world as a magic wand for Oberon and the home of small fairy-tale creatures - elves. According to these legends, each lily had its own elf, who was born with her and died with her. Corollas of these flowers served as these tiny creatures, bells, and shaking them, they called their pious brethren to prayer. Prayer meetings usually took place in the late evening hour, when everything in the gardens calmed down and plunged into a deep sleep. Then one of the elves ran to the flexible stem of the lily and began to shake it. Lily bells rang and woke up sweetly sleeping elves with their silvery ringing. The tiny creatures woke up, crawled out of their soft beds, and silently and solemnly went to the lily corollas, which served them at the same time as chapels. Here they bowed their knees, folded their hands piously and thanked the Creator in fervent prayer for the blessings sent to them. Having prayed, they just as silently hurried back to their flower cradles and soon fell asleep again in a deep, carefree sleep...LILY OF THE VALLEY
When lilies of the valley bloom, it seems that the very air in the forest is infused with their aroma. No wonder there is a saying among the people: "Lilies of the valley - breathe!". The lily of the valley will fade, and a large red berry appears in place of the crumbled petals. The ancient Germans assured that this was not a berry at all, but burning tears with which the lily of the valley mourns her parting with Spring. Spring, though loved the lily of the valley, but not for long. Forever young and restless, Spring does not find peace for herself and, scattering caresses to everyone, does not happen to anyone for a long time. In passing, she caressed the lily of the valley. He blossomed with happiness, reached out to Spring, but she left the poor thing in the middle of a hot forest. The lily-of-the-valley drooped with grief, its flowers fell off, and a tear-drop of blood rolled out of the stalk.SNOWDROP
There are still snowdrifts, and on the thawed patches you already see flowers blue as the sky - small, quiet, delicately smelling. And it begins to seem that it was them, tiny, but brave, that the winter was frightened and surrendered. Snowdrops freeze in the cruel wind, they are lonely, uncomfortable and unaware, probably that it is from them that the last snow is about to start running away ... A long time ago, when life was just beginning on earth and everything around was covered with snow, one snowflake, they say, as if she risked turning into a flower in order to warm the earth with her warmth. There was no one else to do it. And she became a flower - a snowdrop, and the delicate flower warmed the earth, and life appeared on it.References:
Krasikov S.P. Flower legends. - M., 1990. Babenko V.G. Myths and plants. - M., 2004. McCallister R. Everything about plants in legends and myths. - SPb., M., 2007.
Site material:
Http://www.florets.ru/ http://www.pgpb.ru/cd/primor/zap_prim/legend/l7.htm flowers.forum2x2.ru kvetky.net›category/istoriya-i-legendyi-o- tsvetah/
