Natures Bells
by Wild Thing
Title
Natures Bells
Artist
Wild Thing
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
These lovely little flowers always remind me of my mother. I'm not sure why even ... I also know that they can be deadly ... but won't elaborate on how ... the morning sun on them with the dew is just so clean and fresh I had to capture them ....
Lily of the valley: Return of Happiness, Sweetness, Tears of the Virgin Mary, Humility, You've Made My Life Complete
Lily of the valley, sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, scientific name Convallaria majalis /ˌkɒnvəˈlɛəriə məˈdʒeɪlᵻs/, is a sweetly scented, highly poisonous woodland flowering plant that is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, and Europe.
It is possibly the only species in the genus Convallaria (or one of two or three, if C. keiskei and C. transcaucasica are recognised as separate species). In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). It was formerly placed in its own family Convallariaceae, and, like many lilioid monocots, before that in the lily family Liliaceae.
Convallaria majalis is a herbaceous perennial plant that forms extensive colonies by spreading underground stems called rhizomes. New upright shoots are formed at the ends of stolons in summer, these upright dormant stems are often called pips. These grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots under ground, often forming extensive colonies. The stems grow to 15�30 cm tall, with one or two leaves 10�25 cm long, flowering stems have two leaves and a raceme of 5�15 flowers on the stem apex
The flowers have six white tepals (rarely pink), fused at the base to form a bell-shape, 5�10 mm diameter, and sweetly scented; flowering is in late spring, in mild winters in the Northern Hemisphere it is in early March. The fruit is a small orange-red berry 5�7 mm diameter that contains a few large whitish to brownish colored seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead 1�3 mm wide. Plants are self-sterile, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed.
Legend and tradition
Christian legend
The flower is also known as Our Lady's tears or Mary's tears from Christian legends that it sprang from the weeping of the Virgin Mary during the crucifixion of Jesus. Other etiologies have its coming into being from Eve's tears after she was driven with Adam from the Garden of Eden or from the blood shed by Saint Leonard of Noblac during his battles with a dragon.[citation needed]
The name "lily of the valley" is used in some English translations of the Bible in Song of Songs 2:1, but the Hebrew phrase "shoshannat-ha-amaqim" in the original text (literally "lily of the valleys") does not refer to this plant. It is possible, though, that the biblical phrase may have had something to do with the origin or development of the modern plant-name.
It is a symbol of humility in religious painting. Lily of the valley is considered the sign of Christ's second coming. The power of men to envision a better world was also attributed to the lily of the valley
Other names and legends
Lily of the valley has been used in weddings, although it can be very expensive. Lily of the valley was featured in the bridal bouquet at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Lily of the valley was also the flower chosen by Princess Grace Kelly to be featured in her bridal bouquet.
Symbolic uses
At the beginning of the 20th century, it became tradition in France to sell lily of the valley on international labour day, 1 May (also called La F�te du Muguet (Lily of the Valley Day) by labour organisations and private persons without paying sales tax (on that day only) as a symbol of spring.The Norwegian municipality Lunner has a lily of the valley on its coat-of-arms.
Lily of the valley was the floral emblem of Yugoslavia, and it also became the national flower of Finland in 1967
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May 18th, 2016
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