History Main / FlowerMotifs

* ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'':

* In ''LightNovel/TheStoryOfSaiunkoku'', the symbolic gift of a flower from the Emperor (usually as a motif on a weapon or piece of jewelry, although Ryuuki sends actual fresh irises to Shuuei and Kouyuu since he's in a hurry, and later replaces them with more appropriate equivalents) is both a gesture of trust and an indication of what the Emperor respects from that particular subject's service; accepting such a gift is, in return, a gesture of loyalty to the Emperor who presented it.

* ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' dabbles with flower motifs and ''hanakotoba''; the four HitmanWithAHeart protagonists work as florists as a cover job and are each associated with a particular flower, and they also use ''hanakotoba'' as a code language, allowing for an OutOfCharacterAlert plot twist in the ''Verbrechen ~ Strafe'' OVA. Aya's real name, Ran, means "orchid," an association played upon in both the "Ranjatai" short story and the ''Dramatic Precious'' RadioDrama, and both Kritiker's Aoba Center team and La Mort use FloralThemeNaming.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Leviathan, demon of {{Envy}}, has a yellow rose in her hat and yellow roses tattooed along her back. Fittingly, in Hanakotoba (a Japanese form of the language of the flowers), yellow roses mean jealousy.

* In the Korean novel Lady To Queen, the PeggySue protagonist Patrizia has to take part in a contest to be the future empress in her ill fated twin sister's place. During the embroidery contest she embroiders lavender flowers in a handkerchief for the emperor. Lavander means distrust, in the first timeline the emperor and his mistress executed Patrizia's entire family on trumped up charges.

* In ''Animation/FloweringHeart'', every girl has their own flower. Jean's is an azalea, Sunwoo's is a dandelion, Ushua's is a forget-me-not, and Syuel's is a snow beauty.

Can be expressed in FloralThemeNaming and HanahakiDisease. Not directly related to NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom, but especially [[IncrediblyLamePun flowery]] names may be both. Supertrope of MysticalLotus, which concerns the use of lotuses to symbolize transcendence and mysticalness, QueerFlowers, which concerns floral symbolism revealing or otherwise symbolizing LGBT sexual orientations.

Flowers are one of the most popular {{motifs}} in literature and television alike. Whether given as a gift or mentioned as a character's favorite plant, they're probably worth taking note of; they may well be saying something about the story's theme or someone's personality.

* ''Fanfic/PokemonCrossingFlyMeToTheMoon'': The three main characters are represented by flowers:

** [[TheChick Kairi's]] Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, uses one, and she's seen picking flowers as a child in Birth by Sleep — in fact, the flowers she gives Aqua unlock the Destiny's Embrace Keyblade for Aqua to use. This carries over to Kairi's abilities in III, where all three of her abilities as a party member are [[PetalPower floral-themed]]. When Sora goes to look for pieces of her heart in Re:Mind, it's found as five petal-shaped pieces.

** Harry's deceased mother, Lily Evans, is named after the flower of death and mourning. They are also associated with Easter, and Lily herself is something of a MessianicArchetype, as she [[HeroicSacrifice gives her life for Harry]] despite having the choice to not die.
** Lily's sister, and Harry's aunt, Petunia is named after a popular garden flower, which nevertheless fall into the same family as deadly nightshade. They represent resentment and anger, as well as (somewhat ironically given her [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer attitude]] to her sister and nephew) demonic powers.
** The Hogwarts school nurse, Poppy Pomfrey. Red poppies are a popular sign of remembrance in Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries, usually sold by the Royal British Legion around early November in the run-up to Remembrance Day, to support veterans/current soldiers and their families, with white poppies (for peace) being a sometimes controversial alternative. To say that they are SeriousBusiness would not even ''begin'' to cover it. More pertinently, they're also the source for the opioid family of painkillers, including codeine, morphine, and derivatives thereof. "Pomfrey" is an old-fashioned name for Pontefract cakes, a liquorice pastille made in Pontefract, Yorkshire -- liquorice (which is a plant used to flavor the eponymous candy, so it also counts as this trope) was once thought to be medicinal.
** The PeggySue fanfic ''Fanfic/OhGodNotAgain'' notes that Snape's first question of Harry, concerning asphodel and wormwood, could be decoded as "I deeply regret Lily's death". [[FollowTheLeader An ever-increasing number of imitators have followed its lead]].

* ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' has quite a few Flower Motifs, especially when it comes to roses.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': A huge number of characters have a flower in their names. This includes Harry's mother, Lily Evans, named after the flower of death and mourning, and her sister Petunia. Petunias are popular garden flowers which nevertheless fall into the same family as deadly nightshade. They represent resentment and anger, as well as (somewhat ironically given her [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer attitude]] to her sister and nephew) demonic powers.
** Lilies are associated with Easter. Lily is something of a MessianicArchetype as she [[HeroicSacrifice gives her life for Harry]] despite having the choice to not die.
** Hogwarts' school nurse, Poppy Pomfrey. Red poppies are a popular sign of remembrance in Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries, usually sold by the Royal British Legion around early November in the run-up to Remembrance Day, to support veterans/current soldiers and their families, with white poppies (for peace) being a sometimes controversial alternative. To say that they are SeriousBusiness would not even ''begin'' to cover it. More pertinently, they're also the source for the opioid family of painkillers, including codeine, morphine, and derivatives thereof. "Pomfrey" is an old-fashioned name for Pontefract cakes, a liquorice pastille made in Pontefract, Yorkshire -- liquorice (which is a plant used to flavor the eponymous candy, so it also counts as this trope) was once thought to be medicinal.
** ''Fanfic/OhGodNotAgain'', the PeggySue fanfic, notes that Snape's first question of Harry, concerning asphodel and wormwood, could be decoded as "I deeply regret Lily's death". [[FollowTheLeader An ever-increasing number of imitators have followed its lead]].

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': The workshop of the Hunter's Dream is surrounded by white flowers and gravestones. While ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' doesn't specify as to what sort of flowers they are, the remastered version of the fanfic notes that these flowers are white asphodels. White asphodels are associated with mourning and death. Fitting for a melancholy yet tranquil place like the Dream, filled with memorials of hunters who have participated the Night of the Hunt. Its master has also [[HunterOfMonsters caused]] and [[ResurrectiveImmortality experienced]] death more times than he can count.

** UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} officially has the crown anemone, a flower that grows across the land and often has six blue petals (recalling the six-pointed Star of David). However, the ''sabra'' -- the prickly pear -- is a common symbol of the Israeli people, with [[BadassIsraeli similar symbolism to the Scottish thistle]]. And the Red Everlasting -- a plant in the daisy family, called ''dam hamaccabim'' in Hebrew -- is the memorial flower worn on Yom Hazikaron, the memorial day for Israel's fallen and for victims of terrorism.

* ''Fanfic/{{Fairest}}'': While the Queen is recovering, Snow White delivers to her lavender, marigolds, and aspen leaves. Snow White's prince thinks that she's being nice and forgiving until he looks up the floral meanings behind them. All three are ominous: mistrust, cruelty, and lamentation.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Narcissu}}'', the eponymous Narcissus (or daffodil) flower and its underlying [[Myth/GreekMythology myth]] serve as a tragic metaphor for the heroine, a [[IllGirl terminally ill young woman]].

** UsefulNotes/SouthKorea has the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_syriacus Mugunghwa]] or ''hibiscus syriacus'', representing eternity.

** Benedict: Hollyhocks, fitting his ambitious personality.

** Tank: Camellias, which represent love and passion. He's the Hoennian of the group (camellias are known as the Japanese rose), his mother's name is Camilla, and he's passionate about drawing art and training Grass-type Pokemon.

* Thanks to [[http://demisexualmerrill.tumblr.com/post/145668425096 a tumblr prompt]], there are a surprising number of fanfics on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn based on the premise of a character walking into a flower shop and asking how to use the language of flowers to give someone a passive-aggressive "Fuck you!" [[http://koscheiis.tumblr.com/post/145738369188/flower-shop-au The solution]] tends to involve some combination of geraniums (for stupidity), foxglove (insincerity), meadowsweet (uselessness), yellow carnations (you have disappointed me), and orange lilies (hatred). One artist even drew what [[http://nixhil.tumblr.com/post/145903185509/flower-shop-au such a bouquet]] might look like.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Leviathan, demon of {{Envy}}, has a yellow rose in her NiceHat and yellow roses tattooed along her back. Fittingly, in Hanakotoba (a Japanese form of the language of the flowers), yellow roses mean jealousy.

** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': The lotus flower is a symbol of Chloe Cerise and her growth. Lotus flowers are all about rebirth, enlightenment and self-renewal, which reflect how Chloe is becoming a brand new her throughout her adventures in the Infinity Train. She names the group of her, Atticus and Lexi as the Red Lotus Trio because of how Atticus first called her "Chloe of the Vermillion" (as Vermillion is a shade of autumn red) and one fond memory she had in Vermillion City is seeing the lotus flowers at the park. During their stay in The Crayon Car, they take a boat across a pond full of lotus flowers and leaves floating on the surface.

** Goh is represented with wisterias. His last name in the story being Fujihachi ("Fuji" being the Japanese word for wisteria) and one meaning of wisterias are patience. The author's note sarcastically brings up how he's been ever so ''patient'' in his quest to find Mew to the point of disregarding everything else.