What's The Meaning Of Amaryllis?

We do it all the time. We surprise someone with a bunch of bright yellow flowers to cheer them up. We declare our fervent passion withtwo-dozen velvety roses. We sense the personalities of different flowers and intuitively choose one over another to fit our mood or the occasion.Tall stemmed, with trumpet-like blooms, the amaryllis symbolizes radiant beauty. However, Greek mythology has it that the flower got its start from a shy shepherdess, who pierced her heart and created a crimson flower.

Mythology

In Greek mythology, Amaryllis was a shepherdess who loved Alteo, a shepherd with Hercules' strength and Apollo's beauty. However, Alteo only loved flowers. He'd often said that he would only love a girl who bought him a new flower. So, Amaryllis dressed in maiden's white and appeared at Alteo's door for 30 nights, each time piercing her heart with a golden arrow. When Alteo finally opened his door, he found a crimson flower, sprung from the blood of Amaryllis's heart.

Contemporary Meaning

The word "amaryllis" comes from the Greek word "amaryssein," which means "to sparkle," referring to the bloom. Today, the amaryllis symbolizes pride, determination and radiant beauty--the kind that emanates from an inner source and flowers outward.

Features

Amaryllis has tall, thick stems and large, colorful flowers. Bloom colors includes red, pink, white, cream, orange and striped and variegated shades of several other colors.

Background

The amaryllis is native to South Africa, the Americas and parts of the Caribbean. It was discovered in Chile in 1828 by Eduard Frederich Poeppig, a physician and plant hunter from Leipzig, Germany.

Fun Fact

An amaryllis bulb can produce flowers for up to 75 years.