glossahortensia

[glossahortensia]

ABECEDARY

Volubility

Acmella oleracea (L.) R.K.Jansen (1985) (Jambu)

Most other floriography authors I have encountered, including some of the time, have assumed the 'abecedary' is a mistake - in usual parlance, an 'abecedary' was a written work composed of an entry for each letter of the Latin alphabet (imagine an 'ABC' book for children). The assumption is that, like the word 'poetry' originating from 'poesy', or a 'bouquet' (the two are synonymous in French), the abecedary arose from some confusion in translation and was copied between later incautious authors.

I am excited, therefore, to notice Delachénaye's identification of the jambu as her 'abécédaire', further noting in her entry that this is a colloquial name for the flower in French, arising from its petals seeming to have letter-like figures on them. I believe this is the source of the 'abecedary' of the English authors later on.

Of course, the criticism is otherwise fair - it's true that most authors appear to have copied from other sources, many with little discretion. Still, finding the identity of this flower has been a little victory in my research.

As Delachénaye herself writes, it seems only right to open this blog with the humble abecedary.

[glossahortensia]

GLOSSA HORTENSIA

What is this?

Glossa Hortensia is an online, in-depth encyclopaedia of floriography, better known as the language of flowers.

Rising to prominence in Western Europe and colonial European North America in the 19th century (the 1800s), floriography - from the Latin flora, meaning 'flower', and -graphy, meaning 'writing': 'flower-writing' - encoded different flowers with specific meanings, often drawn from famous poetry, ancient religions, and other pre-existing cultural symbolism such as folk tales, songs, or borrowing from 'exotic' cultures.

Over the century (and continuing today) many hundreds of books were likely published on the topic in all different languages, offering dictionaries of this flower-language for such varied purposes as sending secret messages to a lover, illustrating a memorial or invite for a special occasion, or even letter-for-letter ciphers and phonetic alphabets illustrated with flowers. While many of these books were intended as gifts or tokens for light entertainment, contemporary scholars such as Dr Brent Elliott of the Lindley Library and the late Beverly Seaton (may she rest in peace) have dedicated extensive work to examining their importance as manifestations of cultural movements of the time, including, but far from limited to, Orientalism, the growing push for women's education, the gradual secularisation of society, and the English Arts and Crafts movement which would later yield Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and the folk revival movements of the 20th century.

While much of this trend has been forgotten, there remains a fascination with floriography for contemporary audiences. This encyclopaedia aims to provide an academic-level lens on the language of flowers, building on other scholars' work, and creating a repository of botanical and cultural resources to inform a contemporary reader. In each entry, I go back to the source of the emblem and sentiment applied to it, confirm its botanical identity, provide the texts as they appear in the original works, and chase these back to their origins in poetry, myth, religion, and culture of the time.

This blog will provide updates as I add them to the main glossa.

Who are you?

I am Nev, an Australian writer, artist and gardener in my 30s. While I have a background in academia, I am no longer engaged in it professionally - I do this because I am driven to. Nonetheless, I hope one day I can publish this as a book, or transition it into a masters by research.

Why?

Frustration. I got sick of being unable to find the information I wanted in this sphere without wading through lies, ads for health supplements, and paywalls. All these texts are public domain; I am just doing the archival and the research. Some things we are driven to do.

Ask box is open. Catch you later.