Name the flowers

One Tet, my niece gave me a small pot of flowers. When I asked her what kind of flower it was, she said she didn’t know. When a friend came to visit, she also asked me what kind of flower it was, so I took the trouble to find a name for the flower. And the answer was… snapdragon flower, even though it has a very long scientific name.

Perhaps Vietnamese people like to be honest and simple. For example, the name "Hoa Kapok" sounds more rustic and familiar than the elaborate name "Hoa Moc Mien" of Chinese people. The "Hoa Ban Do" flower, also known as "Hoa Tu Kinh" or "Hoa Hong Kong" because it was chosen as the national flower by Hong Kong, is called "Hoa Hoc Bo" in Vietnam. The rustic name "Hoa Hoc Bo" is explained because the leaves of the tree are missing a corner and look like a "Hoa Hom Bo" (Do not forget me), that is the English name, but it also has other Vietnamese names such as "Hoa Lo Bi" or "Hoa Dom Dot"!

For example, the flower of the gentleman, a flower that is both beautiful and fragrant, but is called the flower of… worms! This flower is called lung lang rung in my hometown because it was originally a wild flower in the forest before being brought to grow in the city, which sounds cute. Then the flower of the Morning Glory in Japanese, a flower that has been mentioned in Haiku poems, considered a symbol of noble seclusion, is called the flower of the morning glory in Vietnamese. Another flower that also grows wild like the morning glory has a very foreign name, the flower of the tigon. Likewise, the name of the lily of the valley flower sounds much more elegant than the honest name of the bellflower.

Growing and blooming together on the same strip of land, besides the flowers with elegant names with foreign sounds such as salem flower, mimosa flower, there are also mousetail flower, foxtail flower, snapdragon flower, wolf snapdragon flower... As for dragonfly flower, the wild flower that grows and blooms everywhere, it also has another more beautiful name: xuyen chi flower. And water scorpion, the beautiful and graceful yellow flower also has the names muong hoang can, muong hoang hau, lantern.

Flowers, leaves, and trees are created by heaven and earth. What to name them, or classify them as noble or wild, is up to humans. Fortunately, trees do not know, so they do not stop blooming to their fullest. Thank you, even to the nameless flowers.

VAN HA

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/sang-tac/202501/goi-ten-nhung-loai-hoa-ebe02fa/