NCW Libraries

Flowers were chosen as symbols for many reasons. The great variety of flora made it possible to find some plant or flower which would be a suitable figure for nearly any abstract quality or condition. A plant might be chosen because of some myth connected with its origin, as the stories of Daphne and Narcissus; because of the peculiar environment in which it thrived, as the orchid and the fungus; because of its significant shape, as the passion flower...

Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants & Trees by Ernst & Johanna Lehner explores the cultural significance and legends surrounding much of the natural world. Ernst Lehner (b. 1896, d. 1971) and wife Johanna were Austrian natives who emigrated to the United States in 1940, likely fleeing the Nazis. After settling in New York City, the couple embarked on a literary and illustrative pursuit, writing numerous books together that examined the world...

Lore of the Wild delves into traditional nature folklore from around the world, revealing the influence of trees, plants, insects, birds, animals and weather on daily life. Did you know that people used to believe that rabbits' ears would twitch in the direction of a thunderstorm? That lily of the valley flowers were formed from fairies' drinking cups? And that taking dandelions into the house would make you wet the bed? Traditional nature folklore...

"All seventeen-year-old Quill wants is a break from the family business. Flowers, plants, the generations-old garden. What he wouldn't give for a taste of the outside world. Normalcy. But his mom won't let him out of the house, telling him he's just not ready... All because he's a dryad. Well, not just any dryad, but a male dryad-the first ever. And unlike everyone else in his family, he hasn't a lick of magic. Just a shock of green hair, matching...