Recently, many people hunted for a white, bell-shaped flower called lily of the valley. This is a flower with pure beauty and very fragrant, a symbol of happiness in France.

Linh Lan is a Sino-Vietnamese transliteration, derived from the name of the flower 鈴蘭 (línglán) in Chinese. This flower has the official scientific name Convallaria majalis L., named by Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné in 1753. It is the only species in the genus Convallaria, family Asparagaceae. The French call it Muguet de mai, and the Anglo-Americans call it Lily of the valley.

Linh Lan is a herbaceous perennial plant, 20-30 cm tall. The underground stem has lateral and branched rhizomes, the stem tip has hypertrophic underground shoots. Leaves oval or narrow oval; The flowers are bell-shaped, white, but sometimes pinkish and also red, slanting to one side.

Each branch is 15-20 cm tall, has about 10 flowers with a diameter of about 8 mm. Berries, red when ripe, 5-7 mm in diameter, contain many large white or light brown seeds.

Although the same species, the lily of the valley is divided into many types and botanists believe that there are four types that will become independent species, namely Convallaria majalis var. keiskei (distributed in China and Japan, bell-shaped flowers, red fruits); Convallaria majalis var. majalis (distributed in Eurasia, white midrib on flowers); Convallaria majalis var. montana (North American distribution, light green midrib on flowers); Convallaria majalis var. rosea (pink flower, also a variety recognized by many scholars).

Tears of the Virgin Mary

The lily of the valley is a symbol of happiness in France. On May 1 every year, the French have the custom of giving each other this flower to wish each other a happy year, the recipient often hangs the flower in the room to wish that there is much joy in the rest of the year. In Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Andorra, there are similar customs. Some people believe that a single branch of lily of the valley with exactly 13 small flowers will bring good luck. In French folklore, this flower also symbolizes 13 years of marriage.

There are many legends about lily of the valley. Here Leonardo, the guardian of the forest, planted a fragrant white lily of the valley in the frozen land and it is the incarnation of Saint Leonard. People also call the petals of lily of the valley “Our Lady’s Tears”, ie tears of the Virgin Mary or tears of women.

In Ukrainian legend, there was a beautiful girl waiting for her lover on the return expedition, she waited forever without seeing her lover, her tears fell on the grass in the forest and turned into tears. fragrant lily flower. According to Greek legend, lily of the valley was created by the god Apollo.

The lily of the valley is the national flower of Finland and of the kingdom of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia). The orchids are thought to be Snow White’s broken pearls or the little lanterns of the Seven Dwarfs.

In the language of flowers, lily of the valley symbolizes the enthusiasm of youth, passion and the return of happiness.

In general, people can grow this flower in pots, cut branches to display or plant in a shady place in the garden. Please note, however, that despite being used in folk medicine in moderate doses, the entire lily-of-the-valley plant is highly toxic, which can be deadly (especially if swallowed or drunk from the flowers). .

Before reishi flowers bloom, people can confuse them with wild garlic, so when you want to grow them as an ornamental, you need to distinguish the difference between the two species: their leaf structure is not the same, the leaves of garlic are not the same. more fragrant than lily-of-the-valley.