Lily of the Valley – The Daily Flower for 7 September

Imagine if Paris Hilton were called Chastity Wittier. That’s a bit what it’s like for lily of the valley. It’s not really a lily, if you define lilies as belonging to the genus lilium, and it’s more commonly found in woods. True, lily of valley is also found in valleys, but so has the hotel heiress taken a vow of celibacy for a year.

Lily of the valley by bc anna

Like Paris, lily of the valley isn’t known for its exploits in just a single field.

Its racemes of little nodding bell-shaped flowers in pearly white are model pretty, complete with six scalloped edges – the plant-world equivalent of a retroussé nose.

Lily of the valley also has its own lovely perfume (which doesn’t only appeal to our noses) and works a sideline in tugging on the heart. No, not as an actor, but as a cardiac tonic, which apparently has a similar but milder effect to the one made from foxgloves.

What’s more, in floriography, the lily of valley represents ‘return of happiness’, which sounds like it could have been a B-side to the single ‘Stars are Blind’.

Good for giving to: Finns (it’s their national flower) and convalescing saddos.

Great lilies of the valley in literature Not only beautiful, but scented – and useful, too, in W. Somerset Maugham’s analogy:

“I don’t care a damn for morality: teaching doesn't come in, ethics and all that, but passion and emotion. The greatest portrait painters have painted both, man and the intention of his soul; Rembrandt and El Greco; it’s only the second-raters who’ve only painted man. A lily of the valley would be lovely even if it didn’t smell, but it’s more lovely because it has perfume.”
From Of Human Bondage

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Tags: flowers, lily of the valley, Convallaria majalis, floriography