Tuberose Flower Meaning and Symbolism

Ghost Orchid Meaning and Symbolism

Kadupul Flower Meaning and Symbolism: A Rare Beauty with Profound Significance

The name causes us to think the flower is a member of the rose family, but it’s not. Tuberose is a member of the agave family and a distant relative of the hyacinth. The blooms look or smell nothing like rose blooms. Tuberose Flower Meaning and Symbolism is full of enigmas intertwined with mystical Greek mythology.

Tuberose is native to Mexico and thrives in warm climates around the world. The plant is grown in home gardens for beauty and fragrance, but its primary usage is in the making of perfume.

The flowers open at night and fill the air with intoxicating fragrance. Due to the nighttime bloom cycle, many cultures and ears have associated the flower with wild, unbridled passion.

Meanings

The tuberose dates back to the Aztec empire and has changed in meaning throughout the ages. The fragrance has always made it useful in perfume making, and most everyone has smelled the fragrance of the flower even if they didn’t know it was the tuberose they were smelling.

The flowers were first introduced to European botanists and given a scientific name in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus.

* White tuberose means purity, peace, and innocence. That’s why the flower stalks are often used in often bridal bouquets.

* The flower is said to protect against evil spirits, another reason it’s often placed in the bridal bouquet.

* Since the flower was thought to keep away evil spirits, grooms and groomsmen often tuck a sprig of tuberose into the buttonhole on their lapel on the wedding day.

* Madame de La Vallière, one of Louis XIV’s mistresses, wore the tuberose in corsages and in her hair to ward off evil spirits.

* Pink varieties mean excitement and romantic interest.

* The tuberose plant means attraction, lust, and obsession for someone else.

* Giving someone a tuberose plant or bouquet means that you’re having a hard time letting go of them.

* A bouquet can also mean that your feelings for them have escalated, and you are feeling more intensely about them than you expected.

* During the Victorian era, tuberoses were a negative sign if carried in the bridal bouquet.

* Victorians also believed the flower could be overwhelmingly erotic. Young women and girls were forbidden to visit Tuberose fields. Victorians fear the young women would be overtaken by the intense scent and indulge in un-ladylike behavior.

* The flowers open at night and

* In India, the tuberose means passion, love, and fidelity and is the primary choice for bridal bouquets.

* It’s also a traditional bridal flower in Hawaii.

* The fragrance of the tuberose lasts until the flower remains until it is completely dried up. This gives the meaning in marriages that the love of the wife will last until she is dead.

Mythology

King Pentheus, son of Agave (the genus that tuberose belongs to), became suspicious because his mother was worshipping an idol named Dionysus. Men were allowed to go into her temple, but Pentheus’s suspicions got the best of him. When he interrupted the religious rites of Dionysus to check on his mother, Agave killed her own son in a religious fury. This created a meaning of danger and violence for the flower that is strongly feminine.

Tuberose Flower Meaning and Symbolism — Photo by flash-dantz

Appearance

Tuberose produces tall spikes of small white flowers are shaped like stars. The flowers are two-toned, having pale purple outsides and pure white insides. The blooms resemble mini lilies, and the way they are arranged on the plant stalk reveals their relation to hyacinths.

The fragrance resembles jasmine and honey and can be found in many expensive perfumes. The tuberose blooms and fragrance will last for days on the plant or after being cut off and used in a floral arrangement.