Birth Flowers

13 entries

• April Birth Flower: Daisy and Sweet Pea, a Mislabeled Poison April's birth flowers are daisy and sweet pea, but the sweet pea's toxin causes a narrower disease than the famine-era illness most sites call lathyrism.
• August Birth Flower: Gladiolus, and a Poppy Species Left Out August's birth flowers are gladiolus and poppy, but almost no guide names the poppy species: the same field poppy behind World War I's remembrance symbol.
• Birth Flowers by Month: The Full Chart, and Where It Runs Short All twelve birth flowers in one chart, checked against The Old Farmer's Almanac and Farmers' Almanac, plus two months where the Almanac's list runs short.
• December Birth Flower: Holly and Narcissus, a 1948 King December's birth flowers are holly and narcissus, but the "ancient" Holly King is a 1948 invention, and the paperwhite is also China's New Year flower.
• February Birth Flower: Violet and Primrose, Plus Two Name-Alikes February's birth flowers are violet and primrose, but the African violet and evening primrose sold under similar names belong to entirely different plant families.
• January Birth Flower: Carnation and Snowdrop, a Color Myth January's birth flowers are carnation and snowdrop, but the pink-carnation Mother's Day story most retailers tell doesn't match the documented 1908 record.
• July Birth Flower: Larkspur and Water Lily, Egypt's Other Lotus July's birth flowers are larkspur and water lily, but the plant behind ancient Egypt's 'lotus' myth is a water lily, and only distantly related to a true lotus.
• June Birth Flower: Rose and Honeysuckle, and Rose's Missing Parent June's birth flowers are rose and honeysuckle, but the cut rose sold at florists traces to one 1867 hybrid whose own parentage is still disputed.
• March Birth Flower: Daffodil, and a Species Name Most Guides Get Wrong March's birth flower is the daffodil on The Old Farmer's Almanac chart, but the taxonomists who study the genus have never agreed on how many species it actually contains.
• May Birth Flower: Lily of the Valley, and an Unconfirmed Legend May's birth flowers are lily of the valley and hawthorn, but the legend behind the French custom and an old hawthorn proverb are both shakier than they look.
• November Birth Flower: Chrysanthemum and Peony, a Gift Mistake November's birth flowers are chrysanthemum and peony, but in France and much of Catholic Europe, chrysanthemums are graveside flowers, not gifts.
• October Birth Flower: Marigold and Cosmos, Borrowed Names October's birth flowers are marigold and cosmos, but the marigold's English name already belonged to a different, unrelated European flower first.
• September Birth Flower: Aster and Morning Glory, Reclassified September's birth flowers are aster and morning glory, but most New World asters haven't technically been genus Aster since a 1990s reclassification.