Friday, July 5, 2013

Do you know Passion Flower?

Passion Flower1

I found these beautiful flowers growing on a fence row here in eastern Oklahoma. Wikipedia says:

Etymology and names[edit]

The "Passion" in "passion flower" refers to the passion of Jesus in Christian theology. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of Jesus and especially his crucifixion:[citation needed]

Blue Passion Flower (P. caerulea) showing most elements of the Christian symbolism

The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since that time. In Spain, it is known as espina de Cristo ("Christ's thorn"). Older Germanic names[18] include Christus-Krone ("Christ's crown"), Christus-Strauss ("Christ's bouquet"[19]), Dorn-Krone ("crown of thorns"), Jesus-Lijden ("Jesus' passion"), Marter ("passion"[20]) or Muttergottes-Stern ("Mother of God's star"[21]).

Passion Flower2

The fragrance is very sweet.

No comments: