How to Identify Flowers

Flowers are the nature’s most beautiful gift. They have inspired generations of poets and artists who have imitated their beauty in their works of art. For each artist, flowers and their beauty have had its own meaning. But there are a group of people in this world who have explored the world of flowers in more scientific way and have tried to understand their world in the way they were created and flourish in the modern times. These groups of people are known as Botanists.

Botanists have placed each flower into a family which is further broken down in sub-family and a step down classification has been done for each family of flowers. While the common names are suitable for a layman to identify the flower, botanists and scientists use the botanical name as per the nomenclature rules to identify and a classify them. The botanical nomenclature uses Latin names to identify each flower.

Family of each flower represents the broad behavior about each flower that falls under the respective category. Each family name represents about the birth, habit, place of origin, seasonality and climatic conditions required to flourish. For a layman also, different flowers represent different meaning to life. A red rose stands for love while a white one speaks of peace. Flamingo flower or the “Heart of Hawaii” symbolizes warmth and hospitality while daffodil relays uncertainty and misleading hope.

A flower may have a different name in each language but it certainly reflects a certain emotion or habit to the on-looker. Each flower and its name are identified differently by a layman and a botanist. Each has its own interpretation to give a meaning to their life and their work.