The Flowers and Plants to Know by Name

Architecture and Design

1. Bearded Iris

Native to Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, this flower is “bigger than your typical iris” — it comes in more colors and has “a fuzzy beard where the bee lands,” says Stephen Orr, 60, the former editor in chief of Better Homes & Gardens magazine and the author of several books on gardening. One of the oldest cultivated ornamental plants, bearded irises are “drought resistant and can go for a long time completely neglected,” adds Alex Crowder, 38, the founder and creative director of the New York-based design studio Field Studies Flora. That’s why you might encounter them both in paintings on the walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in abandoned suburban lots.

Notable appearances in culture: Vincent van Gogh began painting his iris series during his stay at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in France in 1889.

2. Belladonna

Belladonna — the Italian word translates to “beautiful woman” — is a flowering plant with highly poisonous, shiny, eggplant-colored dangling berries. Yet parts of the perennial, which can be found across Central and Southern Europe, North Africa and Western Asia, were once used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. Women of the Renaissance applied drops of the juice to their eyes “to dilate their pupils, which was considered a sign of beauty,” says Ahmad Sardar Afkhami, 57, the founder of the New York-based landscape architecture firm Sardar Design Studio.

Notable appearances in culture: Many scholars believe that the sleeping potion that Juliet takes in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (circa 1594-96) derives from belladonna. It’s also been associated with witches for centuries (even making a cameo in the 1998 film “Practical Magic”).

3. Camellia

The camellia is best known for its association with Chanel. But long before it appeared in the French fashion house’s designs, it originated in East and South Asia. In Japan, where it’s known as tsubaki, the flower, says Orr, held complex symbolism for samurai. Because the blooms fell whole from the stem — evoking a beheading — the camellia could signify both an ill omen and a noble death. At the end of the 17th century, camellias arrived in Europe through the tea trade; breeders became obsessed with their geometric petal pattern and waxy leaves.

Notable appearances in culture: In Alexandre Dumas’s 1848 novel, “La Dame aux Camélias,” the courtesan protagonist Marguerite Gautier wears white camellias to signal sexual availability. “One Hundred Camellias,” a pair of 17th-century scrolls attributed to the prominent Japanese painter Kano Sanraku, depict more than 100 varieties of the flower.

4. Cattleya Orchid

“Orchids are one of the most evolved flowering plants,” says Afkhami. In the 19th century, wealthy collectors paid orchid hunters to track down cattleyas, a particularly showy, ruffled genus native to Central and South America. By the mid-20th century, cattleya orchids — recognized by their “straplike leaves; frilly, inviting center; and intense, velvety colors and textures,” says Afkhami — were the go-to flower for corsages.

Notable appearances in culture: It’s mentioned in Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time” (1913-27), notes Afkhami, as “a symbol of the love affair between Odette and Charles Swann.”

5. Chrysanthemum

In Chinese culture, one flower represents each season; chrysanthemums are associated with fall. Because of their lengthy bloom, they symbolize longevity and resilience. Although they range widely in appearance, from simple, daisylike varieties to flouncy pompoms, most share an herbal, earthy scent. In the United States, they’re often dismissed because of their ubiquity at grocery stores and roadside stands. Orr acknowledges that “familiarity breeds contempt,” but says, “I’ve been a chrysanthemum evangelist.”

Notable appearances in culture: Alongside the plum, orchid and bamboo, the chrysanthemum is one of the four key plants (known as the Four Gentlemen) in Chinese brush painting; it has featured in East Asian ink painting since the Song dynasty (960-1279).

6. Dahlia

A symbol of the flower world’s fast-changing fashions, “dahlias were considered vulgar or common 15 to 20 years ago,” Orr says. “Now they’ve achieved cult status.” The voluptuous blooms range in size from a Ping-Pong ball to a dinner plate, and many have dark foliage and a round shape. Native to Mexico and Central America, they owe some of their newfound popularity, says Orr, to flower arrangers who frequently used the milky “Cafe au Lait” dahlia in the early days of Instagram.

Notable appearances in culture: Their most famous pop-culture reference — the Black Dahlia, the press’s nickname for the victim of a gruesome 1947 murder in Los Angeles — has nothing to do with the bloom itself. Henri Matisse painted “Still Life, Bouquet of Dahlias and White Book” in 1923.

7. Mugwort

Native to Europe, Asia and North Africa, mugwort was known as the “mother of herbs” in medieval history, according to Crowder. Today it’s used in Japanese and Korean cooking for its earthy, bitter flavor; in the United States, where it doesn’t have natural predators, it “crowds out native plants.” Recognizable by its five or so arrowhead-shaped leaves per branch, mugwort has been known to reduce anxiety and promote restful sleep. Now “it’s growing all over New York — the city that never sleeps,” she says. “Maybe the plant world is trying to teach us something.”

Notable appearances in culture: Mugwort is used more often than it’s depicted. During China’s Dragon Boat Festival every summer, bundles of it are hung above doorways to ward off illness and evil spirits.

8. Old Rose

“For gardeners, roses go in and out of fashion,” say Orr. What are known as Old Roses were bred before 1867, when the first Hybrid Tea Rose was introduced, and mainly bloom in May and June. The most famous varieties — Bourbon, Gallica and Damask — were developed in Europe and the Middle East, becoming especially popular in the 1980s. They’re distinguished by their rich, spicy scent, cabbagelike shape and petals that “arrange themselves in a cross,” says Orr. By contrast, modern Hybrid Teas sacrifice some of their smell and volume to bloom several times per year.

Notable appearances in culture: The Old Rose is a fixture of flamboyant bouquets painted by 17th-century Dutch artists, including Jan Davidsz de Heem and Rachel Ruysch. It also appears in the hands of court figures in Persian and Ottoman miniature portraits.

9. Poppy

The cup-shaped blooms with delicate petals and fuzzy yellow centers have come to represent death (because of their sometimes blood-red color), sleep (because they are the source of opium) and remembrance. The poppy genus, Papaver, originated in the Mediterranean, quickly spreading through the rest of Europe and into Asia. “Poppies operate in a liminal realm of seduction,” Orr says. “Like many healing substances, the veil they form between therapy and mortality is gossamer thin. For thousands of years, poppies have lined the pathway between life and death.”

Notable appearances in culture: Dorothy, Toto and the Cowardly Lion fall asleep in a poppy field in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). The flower is also used to memorialize fallen veterans in “In Flanders Fields,” a 1915 poem by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae.

10. Queen Anne’s Lace

Recognizable by its tall, hairy green stem and large flower resembling a frilly white cap, Queen Anne’s lace grows in clusters and is a frequent part of wildflower mixes. A cousin of the cultivated carrot, it arrived in the United States along with European settlers. The seeds were believed to serve as a contraceptive in ancient times, though the claim that “it was braided into women’s hair and brought over” to America as an abortifacient may be apocryphal, says Crowder.

Notable appearances in culture: In the early 20th century, artists were drawn to the plant’s ubiquity. It inspired accessories designed by Tiffany & Co. in 1904 and was the subject of a 1921 poem by William Carlos Williams.

11. Sacred Lotus

Native throughout Asia and parts of Oceania, the sacred lotus plant symbolizes purity and enlightenment in Buddhism, says Christian Luczanits, 61, a professor at SOAS, University of London, who specializes in Buddhist art. Often confused with the waterlily, it’s distinguished by large, round leaves that, as they mature, rise to float above the surface of the water and by a soft pink flower perched on a tall stalk.

Notable appearances in culture: From the third century onward, the Buddha was frequently depicted sitting on a lotus throne as a symbol of his transcendence over the muddy waters of earthly existence. A particularly good example of this is the Amida Buddha at Byodo-in temple in Kyoto, Japan, from 1053.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.

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