Hanakotoba, the Japanese language of flowers

What it is

Each flower has one or more short meanings, and colour often changes them. Cherry blossom stands for the brief beauty of life, because the flowers fall within days. The chrysanthemum is linked with the imperial family and with long life, while white chrysanthemums belong at funerals. The red spider lily, which flowers around the autumn equinox when families visit graves, is tied to parting and to the dead. Camellia, plum, wisteria, iris and hydrangea all have their own readings.

Where it comes from

Japanese poetry has paired flowers with feelings and seasons for more than a thousand years, and the oldest anthologies are full of plum, cherry and bush clover. The idea of a formal list, one flower to one meaning, arrived with Western books in the Meiji period in the late 1800s. Japanese writers adapted those lists, dropped meanings that made no sense locally and added native flowers. The result is a mixed tradition that keeps changing as growers and florists introduce new plants.

How it works

Meanings matter most for gifts with a clear purpose: a visit to someone in hospital, a graduation, a shop opening, a funeral. Florists steer customers away from poor choices. A potted plant is avoided for a patient because roots suggest a long stay in bed. Camellias are sometimes avoided too, since the whole flower head drops at once. For happy occasions, bright mixed bouquets and orchids in pots are the safe and usual choice.

How to take part

1. Tell the florist the occasion first, and let them suggest flowers that suit it.
2. Ask for the meaning card to be included with the bouquet.
3. For a celebration, choose bright colours. Keep white and pale yellow chrysanthemums for mourning.

Good manners

• Take cut flowers, not a potted plant, to a hospital, and check first whether the ward allows flowers at all.
• Avoid sets of four or nine stems, numbers that sound like the words for death and suffering.

The flowers

Cherry blossomThe spring-blooming flower of ornamental cherry trees, central to Japan’s hanami customChrysanthemumAutumn-blooming flower with thousands of varieties, cherished in East Asia and beyondPrunus mumeThe fragrant plum blossom tree that blooms in winter across East AsiaHydrangeaFlowering shrubs with large heads that change color with soil pH

Also part of it, and being written: Lycoris radiata, Camellia japonica, Wisteria floribunda.

Sources and further reading

• Hanakotoba on Wikipedia