Flowers in Spanish Mythology

Spanish mythology represents a complex tapestry woven from multiple cultural threads spanning thousands of years. The Iberian Peninsula’s mythological traditions encompass pre-Roman indigenous beliefs, Roman and Greek influences, Visigothic contributions, centuries of Islamic cultural exchange, Christian overlay, and the distinctive regional traditions of peoples like the Basques, Catalans, Galicians, and Andalusians. Within this rich and layered heritage, flowers occupy significant positions as symbols of divine presence, transformation, love, death, and the perpetual cycle of seasons that governs agricultural life.

Understanding flowers in Spanish mythology requires recognizing that Spain’s mythology is not a single unified system but rather a collection of regional and historical traditions that sometimes overlap, sometimes contradict, and sometimes exist in parallel without direct connection. The mythology of ancient Iberian peoples differs substantially from medieval Christian legends, yet both contribute to the broader Spanish mythological landscape. Similarly, the eight centuries of Islamic presence in parts of Spain created mythological syncretisms that influenced how flowers were understood and represented in later Christian contexts.

The climate and geography of Spain have profoundly shaped its flower mythology. The peninsula ranges from the green, rain-soaked landscapes of Galicia and the Basque Country to the arid plains of La Mancha and the semi-desert regions of Almería. This ecological diversity means that different flowers dominate different regional mythologies, and the same flower might carry entirely different associations depending on whether it appears in Andalusian, Castilian, or Catalan contexts.

Pre-Roman and Ancient Iberian Traditions

The Pomegranate and Iberian Goddesses

The pomegranate holds a position of exceptional importance in Spanish mythology, with roots reaching back to the ancient Iberian cultures that inhabited the peninsula before Roman conquest. The fruit and its crimson flowers appear in archaeological remains and ancient artistic representations associated with feminine deities, fertility rites, and concepts of abundance. The pomegranate’s structure, containing hundreds of seeds within a single fruit, made it a natural symbol for fertility, prosperity, and the teeming abundance of life.

Ancient Iberian goddess figures, discovered in archaeological sites across southern and eastern Spain, sometimes hold pomegranates or are decorated with pomegranate motifs. These figures, whose specific mythological identities remain subject to scholarly debate, appear to have been associated with agricultural fertility, human reproduction, and the cyclical nature of death and rebirth. The pomegranate flowers, which bloom in brilliant red-orange clusters in spring, announced the beginning of the growing season and promised the abundant fruit that would come with late summer.

The connection between pomegranates and the underworld, familiar from Greek mythology through the story of Persephone, also appears in Iberian contexts, though with distinctive local characteristics. Some Spanish folk traditions maintain that pomegranate trees mark boundaries between the living world and the realm of the dead, and that the flowers possess protective properties against malevolent spirits. The correspondence between the pomegranate’s symbolism and the later Christian association of the fruit with the Virgin Mary and with religious communities demonstrates how ancient mythological motifs were absorbed and transformed by successive cultural layers.

The pomegranate achieved such significance in Spanish culture that it became the heraldic symbol of the Kingdom of Granada, appearing prominently in Spanish royal heraldry after the 1492 conquest of the last Islamic kingdom on the peninsula. This political symbolism drew upon deeper mythological associations that made the pomegranate an emblem of unity in diversity, of hidden treasures revealed, and of the feminine principle of generation and nurturing. The flowers themselves, appearing before the fruit, represented promise, potential, and the beautiful beginning of processes that would eventually yield abundance.

Sacred Oak Flowers and Ancient Grove Worship

The indigenous peoples of ancient Iberia practiced forms of tree worship that particularly venerated oaks, a tradition that continued into the Roman period and left traces in later folklore. While oaks are not typically thought of as flowering trees, their catkins and the flowering plants that grew beneath them in sacred groves formed part of complex mythological systems. These groves served as religious centers where communities gathered for ceremonies marking seasonal transitions, where disputes were settled under divine observation, and where humans could communicate with the divine forces that governed their world.

Flowers growing within or near these sacred oak groves absorbed spiritual significance from their location. Spring flowers that carpeted the ground beneath oak trees were seen as manifestations of the grove’s vitality and as indicators of the divine presence. Violets, primroses, and various woodland flowers became associated with the nature spirits or minor deities believed to inhabit these sacred spaces. Picking such flowers without proper ritual acknowledgment could bring misfortune, while gathering them with appropriate prayers and offerings allowed their use in healing work or protective magic.

The Romans, when they conquered Iberia, identified these native practices with their own traditions of sacred groves and incorporated local customs into their religious framework. This syncretism meant that flowers associated with Roman deities like Flora, the goddess of flowers and spring, became connected to indigenous Iberian flower traditions. The result was a hybrid mythology where classical Mediterranean flower symbolism merged with local beliefs that had developed in response to the specific ecology and seasonal patterns of the Iberian Peninsula.

Medieval Christian Transformations

Roses and the Virgin Mary

Perhaps no flower in Spanish mythology has been more thoroughly transformed and elaborated than the rose, which became inseparably linked with the Virgin Mary in medieval Spanish Christian tradition. The rose’s beauty, fragrance, and the contrast between its delicate petals and sharp thorns made it an ideal symbol for complex theological and mythological concepts. Spanish Marian devotion, which reached extraordinary intensity during the medieval and early modern periods, generated an entire mythology around roses that influenced art, literature, poetry, and popular religious practice.

The white rose became associated with Mary’s purity and virginity, while the red rose symbolized her compassion and her sharing in Christ’s suffering. Medieval Spanish legends tell of how roses first gained their red color from Christ’s blood during the crucifixion, or alternatively, from Mary’s tears as she witnessed her son’s death. These origin stories gave roses a quasi-sacramental quality, making them appropriate offerings at Marian shrines and essential elements in religious processions and festivals.

One particularly widespread Spanish legend describes how roses bloom miraculously in winter as signs of divine favor or in response to prayer. The most famous version involves a poor person gathering winter flowers that transform into roses, though regional variations adapt the story to local contexts and patron saints. These miracle stories reinforced the rose’s status as a flower that transcended natural limitations, operating according to divine rather than earthly principles. The winter-blooming rose became a symbol of hope, divine intervention, and the idea that faith could produce impossible beauty in the bleakest circumstances.

Spanish convents and monasteries cultivated rose gardens not merely for their beauty but as living prayers and theological statements. The practice of making rose water, distilling rose essences, and creating rose-based medicines all carried spiritual dimensions. Nuns might pray specific devotions while tending roses, understanding their horticultural work as a form of worship. The roses grown in these sacred spaces were believed to possess enhanced spiritual properties, making them more effective in healing or in warding off evil influences.

The rosary, whose very name derives from roses, became the most widespread form of Marian devotion in Spain. The connection between the prayer practice and the actual flowers was more than merely linguistic. Believers understood each prayer as a spiritual rose offered to Mary, and the completion of a full rosary as the weaving of a mystical garland. This metaphorical framework meant that roses occupied both physical and spiritual dimensions simultaneously, existing as botanical realities and as symbolic elements in an interior devotional landscape.

Lilies and Purity in Spanish Saints’ Lives

The white lily, already associated with purity in broader Christian symbolism, took on distinctive characteristics in Spanish hagiography and religious mythology. Spanish saints’ lives frequently feature lilies appearing miraculously or playing significant roles in conversion narratives, demonstrations of sanctity, or posthumous miracles. The flower became particularly associated with virgin martyrs, with Spanish versions of saints’ legends often elaborating the lily symbolism beyond what appeared in original sources.

Saint Anthony of Padua, though Portuguese by birth, became enormously popular in Spain, and Spanish devotion to him emphasized the lilies he is traditionally depicted holding. These lilies represented his purity, his theological wisdom, and his special relationship with the Christ child, who reportedly appeared to him. Spanish folk practices developed around Saint Anthony’s lilies, with believers growing lilies near Anthony statues or images, blessing lily bouquets on his feast day, and using lily petals in love magic that invoked the saint’s intercession in matters of the heart.

The lily also appears in Spanish legends about Moorish princesses who converted to Christianity, a common theme in the mythology that emerged following the Reconquista. These stories typically describe the princess discovering lilies growing in impossible locations or receiving lilies from a mysterious figure, with the flowers serving as signs that she should abandon Islam and embrace Christianity. While these narratives clearly served political and religious purposes in justifying the Christian conquest, they also reveal how deeply lilies had become embedded in Spanish Catholic identity as flowers that announced and embodied divine truth.

Spanish nuns, particularly those in enclosed contemplative orders, cultivated lilies in their cloister gardens. These gardens were understood as earthly versions of paradise, and the lilies growing there served as reminders of the virginal life the nuns had chosen. The timing of lily blooming often coincided with important religious festivals, and the flowers would be used to decorate altars, statues, and the convent church. The cultivation of lilies thus became a form of lived theology, a way of participating in the purity that the flowers symbolized.

The Carnation in Spanish Passion Symbolism

The carnation occupies a unique position in Spanish religious mythology, with particular associations to the Passion of Christ and to the complex emotional landscape of Spanish Catholicism, which emphasizes suffering, sacrifice, and the dramatic aspects of religious experience. According to Spanish legend, carnations first sprang from the earth where Mary’s tears fell as she witnessed the crucifixion, or alternatively, grew from the blood of Christ. This mythological origin gave carnations a special status in Spanish Holy Week observances.

Red carnations became deeply associated with both divine and human love in Spanish tradition, but always with an undercurrent of sacrifice and suffering. The flower’s appearance, with its frilled petals suggesting both beauty and the wounds of passion, made it symbolically resonant. During Holy Week processions, particularly in Andalusia, carnations are thrown to religious statues, scattered along processional routes, and worn by participants. The practice transforms entire streets into carpets of petals, creating an immersive sensory experience that blurs the boundary between botanical reality and religious myth.

White carnations in Spanish tradition connect to purity and faithful love, but unlike the lily’s cool, distant perfection, the carnation’s purity is warmer and more accessible. Folk songs and poetry frequently employ carnation imagery to discuss love, longing, and the pain of separation. The flower appears in wedding customs, courtship practices, and funeral rites, demonstrating its versatility as a symbol that could encompass the full range of human emotional and spiritual experience.

The carnation’s association with Spain became so strong that it evolved into a national symbol, appearing in art, on traditional dress, and as a shorthand for Spanish identity itself. This nationalist dimension drew upon but also transformed the flower’s religious mythological origins. The carnation came to represent not only Christian devotion but also Spanish character, which Spaniards often describe as passionate, intense, and deeply feeling. The flower’s mythology thus expanded from purely religious contexts into broader cultural identity.

Regional Mythologies

Basque Flower Mythology and Pre-Christian Survivals

The Basque region of northern Spain preserves some of the peninsula’s most distinctive mythological traditions, including beliefs about flowers that show evidence of pre-Christian origins persisting despite centuries of Christian influence. The Basque language, unrelated to any Indo-European language, and the region’s relative geographic isolation allowed the preservation of mythological elements that disappeared elsewhere in Spain.

In Basque mythology, certain flowers serve as indicators of the presence of lamiak, supernatural female beings who dwell near water sources and in caves. These beings, sometimes described as beautiful women with duck or goose feet, sometimes as more clearly non-human spirits, have complex relationships with humans. They might help with household tasks if treated respectfully, teach magical songs or healing knowledge, or punish those who show disrespect to nature. Flowers growing near springs, rivers, or cave mouths might indicate lamiak presence, and gathering such flowers without leaving offerings or speaking appropriate words could result in misfortune.

The eguzkilore, or “sun flower,” holds particular significance in Basque tradition. This flower, actually the cardoon or wild artichoke’s striking purple bloom, was traditionally placed above doorways for protection against evil spirits and negative influences. The mythology surrounding eguzkilore connects it to solar deities or forces from pre-Christian Basque religion. The flower’s spiky, radiant appearance resembles a stylized sun, and its placement above doorways creates a protective barrier that malevolent entities cannot cross. This practice continues in some rural Basque areas, representing one of the most persistent pre-Christian flower traditions in Spain.

Basque mythology also features flowers in stories about the goddess Mari, the most important deity in the pre-Christian Basque pantheon. Mari governs weather, agriculture, and moral order, residing in various caves throughout Basque country and traveling between them during storms. Flowers blooming near her dwelling places are considered sacred, and their sudden withering might indicate Mari’s displeasure with human behavior. The mythology around Mari and her associated flowers emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between humans and natural/supernatural forces, requiring proper conduct and respect rather than simple supplication.

The Basque tradition of maintaining house altars dedicated to Mari or to various Christian saints often includes fresh flowers, particularly those gathered from mountainous areas where Mari traditionally dwells. The practice blends Christian and pre-Christian elements seamlessly, with participants often unaware of or unconcerned with the mythological origins of their customs. This syncretism demonstrates how flower mythology can persist through radical religious transformations, with old meanings coexisting alongside new interpretations.

Galician and Asturian Water Flower Myths

The northwestern regions of Galicia and Asturias, characterized by abundant rainfall, numerous rivers, and a landscape of deep green forests, have developed distinctive mythologies around flowers associated with water. The Celtic influences in these regions, combined with local pre-Roman traditions and later Christian elements, created a mythological landscape where water spirits, enchanted maidens, and transformation stories feature prominently.

Water lilies and other aquatic flowers appear in Galician legends about mouras, beautiful supernatural women who inhabit rivers, wells, and ancient ruins. These beings, possibly derived from pre-Christian nature spirits or perhaps representing folk memories of pre-Roman peoples, are often described as guarding treasure or keeping ancient knowledge. They appear to humans on certain days, particularly during festivals like Saint John’s Eve, and flowers play significant roles in encounters with them. A moura might appear combing her hair among water lilies, and the person who sees her could gain blessings or curses depending on their behavior.

Some legends describe mouras as enchanted princesses awaiting release from spells, a motif common throughout European folklore but taking distinctive forms in Galician tradition. The enchantment often involves transformation into or association with specific flowers. A princess might be doomed to exist as a water lily until someone performs a specific action on a particular night, or she might appear human on the night of certain festivals, marked by a crown of water flowers. These stories often end tragically, with the potential rescuer failing to complete the necessary task, leaving the moura to return to her floral form.

The Welsh and Breton Celtic connections to Galicia appear in flower mythology through similarities in water-flower symbolism and in the types of supernatural beings associated with aquatic plants. The importance of water in Celtic spirituality, combined with the specific ecology of Galicia’s rivers and coastal areas, generated a mythology where boundaries between human and plant, natural and supernatural, remain deliberately fluid. Flowers growing at the edges of water occupy liminal spaces, existing between earth and water just as mouras exist between the human and spirit worlds.

Galician traditional healers, or curandeiras, use water flowers in various preparations, always gathered with specific rituals that acknowledge the spiritual dimension of these plants. The mythology surrounding these practices holds that the flowers’ healing power comes not merely from their chemical properties but from their connection to water spirits and ancient forces. A flower gathered without proper acknowledgment loses its potency, while one collected with appropriate prayers and offerings becomes a powerful medicine.

Andalusian Islamic Influences on Flower Mythology

Eight centuries of Islamic presence in southern Spain created profound mythological syncretisms that particularly affected how flowers were understood and used. The sophisticated garden culture of Al-Andalus, the Islamic civilization that flourished on the Iberian Peninsula, elevated flowers to positions of extraordinary importance. While much of this tradition was aesthetic and poetic rather than mythological in the strict sense, the boundaries between poetry, philosophy, and mythology often blur in Islamic Spanish tradition.

The orange blossom achieved particular significance in Andalusian culture, both during the Islamic period and in the Christian culture that succeeded it. Orange trees were introduced to Spain by the Moors, and the flowers’ intense fragrance, pure white color, and the simultaneous presence of flowers and fruit on the same tree made them symbolically rich. In Islamic Andalusian poetry and garden design, orange blossoms represented paradise on earth, the perfection of divine creation, and the idea that physical beauty could lead to spiritual contemplation.

This symbolism persisted after the Christian conquest, with orange blossoms becoming traditional in Spanish wedding customs. The mythology surrounding bridal orange blossoms combines Islamic Andalusian aesthetics with Christian interpretations of purity and fertility. The flower represents both innocence and fruitfulness, the beginning of a new life and the promise of abundance to come. The simultaneous presence of flowers and fruit on orange trees allowed the symbolism to encompass both present joy and future blessings.

The jasmine, another flower strongly associated with Islamic Spanish tradition, generated its own mythology in Andalusia. The flower’s intoxicating evening fragrance and its cultural associations with refined sensuality and romantic love created a mythology where jasmine served as a messenger between lovers, a symbol of desire and longing. Spanish guitar music and flamenco songs frequently reference jasmine, and the flower appears in folk tales about forbidden love, nighttime trysts, and the bittersweet nature of passion.

The Court of Lions in the Alhambra palace, with its sophisticated fountain system and garden design, represents the pinnacle of Islamic Spanish flower culture. The mythology surrounding this and other Islamic gardens holds that they were designed as earthly representations of the Quranic paradise, with specific flowers chosen for their symbolic associations with divine attributes. This concept of the garden as paradise influenced later Spanish Christian garden design and flower symbolism, creating a lasting legacy that transcended religious boundaries.

Catalan Dragon Legends and Symbolic Flowers

Catalonia’s mythology, influenced by connections to Occitan and broader Mediterranean traditions, features flowers in distinctive ways, particularly in stories involving dragons and Saint George. The legend of Saint George slaying the dragon, while widespread throughout Christian Europe, takes a particularly elaborate form in Catalan tradition and became central to Catalan identity. The mythological role of flowers in this story has generated one of Spain’s most distinctive cultural celebrations.

According to Catalan legend, when Saint George slew the dragon that was terrorizing a town and had demanded the king’s daughter as sacrifice, the dragon’s blood spilled onto the ground and immediately transformed into red roses. The saint gave one of these roses to the princess, and this action became the mythological origin of the Catalan tradition of giving roses on Saint George’s Day, April 23rd. The mythology surrounding these roses connects them to triumph over evil, sacrificial love, divine intervention, and the redemptive transformation of violence into beauty.

The roses in this legend carry multiple layers of meaning. They represent the blood of the dragon, transformed from a symbol of threat into a symbol of love. They signify the princess’s salvation and her recognition of the saint’s deed. They mark the spot where cosmic good overcame cosmic evil, sanctifying the ground and ensuring that beauty would forever commemorate the victory. This mythology has generated a living tradition where millions of roses are exchanged annually in Catalonia, each one implicitly referencing the mythological first roses that emerged from dragon’s blood.

The saint’s relationship with the princess, delicately romantic in most versions of the Catalan legend, adds another dimension to the rose’s symbolism. The rose becomes a token of chivalric love, of devotion that remains pure even in the face of desire. The flower allows the saint to acknowledge the princess’s beauty and express his feelings while maintaining appropriate boundaries, making the rose a mediator between religious devotion and human affection.

Catalan dragons in broader mythology, beyond the Saint George legend, sometimes guard gardens where magical flowers grow. These dragons might be purely malevolent or might be complex beings fulfilling their nature by protecting treasures. Flowers in these dragon-guarded gardens possess magical properties such as healing incurable diseases, restoring youth, or granting visions of the future. The mythology serves both as entertaining narrative and as exploration of the concept that obtaining anything truly valuable requires courage and the willingness to face danger.

Folk Traditions and Rural Mythology

Flowers in Spanish Witchcraft and Folk Magic

Spanish folk traditions preserve an extensive mythology around flowers used in magical practices, healing work, and protection against supernatural threats. This mythology draws from pre-Christian traditions, medieval grimoires, Moorish influences, and Catholic symbolism, creating complex systems where the same flower might serve in both church rituals and magical workings with little perceived contradiction.

Verbena holds particular importance in Spanish magical tradition. This plant’s small purple flowers appear in spells for love, protection, purification, and communication with the spirit world. According to Spanish folk belief, verbena growing near crossroads or in graveyards absorbs especially powerful properties. The mythology surrounding verbena describes it as sacred to various pre-Christian deities and as having grown at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion. This dual origin story, combining pagan and Christian elements, is typical of Spanish folk flower mythology.

The practice of gathering flowers on Saint John’s Eve, the night of June 23rd, represents one of the most persistent magical traditions in Spanish folk culture. The mythology holds that this night, the summer solstice in the old calendar, possesses unique properties that enhance the power of all plants. Flowers gathered on Saint John’s Eve, particularly if collected with specific rituals involving dew, moonlight, or recited formulas, could cure illnesses, inspire love, protect against evil magic, or grant wishes. The celebration combines pre-Christian midsummer traditions with the Christian feast day, creating a mythology where ancient nature worship and Catholic devotion coexist.

Spanish brujas, or witches, feature prominently in rural mythology, and flowers appear frequently in stories about their practices. Some traditions describe witches gathering flowers at midnight for their potions and spells, particularly flowers from graveyards or crossroads. Other stories tell of witches who could transform into flowers to spy on people or who used flowers to communicate with demons or fairy-like beings called duendes. While these narratives often served to warn against witchcraft, they also preserved knowledge about plants’ properties and created a rich mythology around the spiritual potency of flowers.

The concept of the evil eye, or mal de ojo, pervades Spanish folk belief, and flowers serve as important protections against this form of harmful magic. Red flowers, particularly carnations or geraniums, might be placed in windows or doorways to deflect envy and malevolent gazes. The mythology holds that the flowers absorb the harmful spiritual energy, protecting household inhabitants. If a protective flower suddenly wilts or dies, this indicates that it has intercepted a particularly strong attack of evil eye, having sacrificed itself to preserve the humans it guards.

Seasonal Festivals and Flower Mythology

Spanish seasonal celebrations, many predating Christianity while incorporating Catholic elements, feature flowers as central components with associated mythological meanings. These festivals create living mythology, where participants enact ancient patterns and affirm their connection to both the natural world and the spiritual forces that govern it.

The Corpus Christi celebrations, particularly famous in towns like Granada and Valencia, involve creating elaborate carpets of flowers through which religious processions pass. The mythology surrounding these flower carpets holds that they transform ordinary streets into sacred paths, that the flowers’ beauty and fragrance please both God and the saints, and that walking upon the petals brings blessings while also demonstrating the transient nature of earthly beauty. The specific flowers used carry symbolic meanings, with participants consciously choosing colors and species to communicate theological ideas or local devotions.

The Fallas festival in Valencia, culminating on Saint Joseph’s Day in March, involves enormous sculptural installations that are burned in spectacular bonfires. While the sculptures themselves dominate the visual spectacle, flowers play significant roles in associated rituals. Women and girls participate in flower offerings to the Virgin, creating enormous floral tapestries that can reach multiple stories high. The mythology surrounding this practice connects flowers to feminine devotion, community identity, and the offering of beauty to the divine.

May crosses, or Cruces de Mayo, celebrated particularly in Andalusia, involve decorating crosses with elaborate flower arrangements. The mythology blends the Christian story of Saint Helena discovering the True Cross with older spring fertility celebrations. Flowers used in decorating the crosses represent both the renewal of spring and the triumph of Christianity. Communities compete to create the most beautiful floral cross displays, and the practice reinforces communal bonds while affirming both local identity and religious devotion.

The tradition of Maya, celebrated on the first day of May in some regions, involves young girls sitting surrounded by flowers, often on small thrones or stages. The mythology surrounding this practice is complex and somewhat obscure, possibly deriving from pre-Christian celebrations of spring deities or from later medieval traditions. The girls represent the renewal of nature, the beauty of youth, and the promise of fertility, with flowers serving as both decoration and symbol of the season’s generative power.

Modern Interpretations and Continuing Traditions

Spanish flower mythology continues to evolve in contemporary contexts, with ancient symbols being reinterpreted for modern circumstances while maintaining connections to traditional meanings. The Spanish practice of giving flowers on saints’ days, the popularity of flower festivals, and the continued use of flowers in life passage ceremonies all keep mythological associations alive even among people who might not be conscious of the traditions’ historical depth.

The contemporary Spanish interest in recovering pre-Christian traditions and regional identities has led to renewed attention to the non-Christian elements of flower mythology. Scholars and practitioners work to understand ancient Iberian, Celtic, and Basque flower traditions apart from their later Christian interpretations. This recovery work creates new mythology even as it claims to restore old traditions, demonstrating that mythological systems remain living and responsive to contemporary needs rather than fixed historical artifacts.

Spanish literature, from medieval romances through Golden Age poetry to contemporary novels, has continuously elaborated and transformed flower mythology. García Lorca’s poetry, for instance, employs flower imagery in ways that draw upon traditional associations while creating new symbolic meanings. This literary tradition ensures that flower mythology remains culturally relevant and continues to develop new dimensions of meaning.

The Spanish relationship with flowers, shaped by millennia of mythological tradition, continues to influence everything from garden design to language to social customs. When Spaniards use flowers to communicate emotions, celebrate festivals, mark important life events, or simply beautify their surroundings, they participate in patterns of meaning that stretch back through Islamic and Christian traditions to the ancient peoples of Iberia, creating continuity between past and present through the enduring symbolism of blooming plants.

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