Hyacinth
For Charlotte de La Tour and the English books that followed her, the hyacinth meant "game" or "play", after the Greek myth of Hyacinthus, killed by a thrown discus. American books made the blue hyacinth "constancy" instead.
Meaning
La Tour pairs the hyacinth with Jeu, play: Apollo killed the beautiful Hyacinthus while they played at quoits, and turned him into the flower. She gives the garden hyacinth, jacinthe, a second meaning, Bienveillance, goodwill, for its sweet scent and pleasant look. The English version of her book has "game, play", and so does Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers (1884), as "sport, game, play", with "unobtrusive loveliness" for the white hyacinth. Brent Elliott, of the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library, finds "games" or play in most English sources. The American books went their own way. Sarah Josepha Hale's Flora's Interpreter (Boston, 1832) makes the blue hyacinth "constancy" and the purple "sorrow". Henrietta Dumont's Floral Offering (Philadelphia, 1851) heads its chapter "constancy", saying several English writers use the blue hyacinth as its emblem and that the Scottish bluebell is the best-known kind, while her dictionary at the back of the same book still says "game, play".
Origin and history
Richard Folkard's Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics (1884) tells the myth in full. Hyacinthus, a young Laconian, was loved by both Apollo and Zephyr, the west wind. While he and Apollo played at quoits, the jealous Zephyr blew Apollo's quoit off course so that it struck and killed him, and Apollo made the flower spring from his blood.
In a royal bouquet
The American "constancy" has had a recent royal outing. The Royal Horticultural Society's library records that the flowers in the wedding bouquet of Catherine, Princess of Wales, were chosen for their meanings by the flower arranger Shane Conolly, and that they included hyacinths for constancy.
See also
Red rose, White rose, Yellow rose, Pink rose, Lily, Tulip.
Sources
- Le Langage des fleurs (Charlotte de La Tour, 13th edition), Charlotte de La Tour, Le Langage des fleurs, treizième édition augmentée (Paris: Garnier frères, [1856]); first published 1819, Cornell University Library, via the Internet Archive, Dictionnaire, “Jeu”, “Bienveillance”
- The Language of Flowers: The Floral Offering, by Henrietta Dumont, 1851, H. C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, Philadelphia (Project Gutenberg edition), Hyacinth chapter; Dictionary of Flowers
- Flora's Interpreter (Sarah Josepha Hale, 1832), Sarah Josepha Hale, Flora's Interpreter, or the American Book of Flowers and Sentiments (Boston: Marsh, Capen and Lyon, 1832), Boston Public Library, via the Internet Archive, Hyacinth, blue; Hyacinth, purple
- Language of Flowers, illustrated by Kate Greenaway, 1884, George Routledge and Sons (Project Gutenberg edition), Hyacinth
- The Victorian Language of Flowers (Brent Elliott, 2013), Brent Elliott, "The Victorian language of flowers", Occasional Papers from the RHS Lindley Library 10: 3–94 (2013), Royal Horticultural Society, via the Internet Archive, pp. 47–48
- Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics (Richard Folkard, 1884), Richard Folkard, Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics (London: Sampson Low, 1884), Project Gutenberg, Hyacinth
- The language of flowers: a lover’s code (RHS Libraries), Royal Horticultural Society
- The Language of Flowers, with Illustrative Poetry, by Frederic Shoberl, seventh edition, 1840, Saunders & Otley, London (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library copy), Dictionary, “Game, Play”
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves or stars.
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research