A Brief Background of Flowers

Even without any specialized knowledge of botany or plants, anybody should be able to identify flowers from a distance. They are distinctive because of their bright colors and sweet scent. While their biological purpose is to ensure the plant keeps living and functioning as the reproductive structures, humans have many other uses for them.

As has been mentioned before their look is quite familiar and easy to recognize; they are characterized by a collection of bright petals encircling a stigma. While this is norm it is definitely not a universal rule. There are some blooms that look so exotic that they are not identifiable as flowers at first sight. The litmus test is to ask if the part of the plant you are referring to has reproductive capabilities, if the answer is yes then it qualifies as a flower of sorts.

At the beginning of time all plants were wild but with the epoch of commercial farming they too were bought under the dominion of man. Certain wild cultivars that could be useful to humans were carefully cultivated in order to harvest their useful components. An interesting development was the creation of entirely new plant species by blending two natural ones.

In addition there is a lot of poetry in these humble plants. Lovers through the ages have exchanged red roses as tokens of affection as these were universally acknowledged symbol of romantic love. At funerals it is common to find lilies with are associated with life and the cycle of rebirth. There is an entire language one could tell from flowers which has largely fallen out of favor as people prefer to express their affection in other ways in recent times.

As much as the art we produce as a race has become a benchmark and a visual record of our history it is also important as a time line. From observing ancient artworks it is possible to establish that even thousands of years ago in China blossoms were used as subjects in decorative jewelry. More recently in history an artist named Georgia O'Keeffe gained great acclaim for her modern paintings the vast majority of which featured a strong floral motif.

Anyone who has ever ingested a cauliflower, an artichoke or broccoli would be slightly amused to discover that they were in fact eating a flower vegetable. While certain blooms such as nasturtiums are wholly edible and as a result are used as garnish in salads. Capers and cloves are some spices that are also derived from flowers.

If one is looking for a herbal tea with medicinal properties look no further than rose or chamomile teas. They are amongst several flower teas highly recommended for this purpose.

As history has proven, flowers are as much a part of our history as anything else due to our long association with them. Whether we are eating them, drawing them, drinking them or simply using a bunch to brighten up a room it cannot be denied that they are versatile and useful.