By Erin Holden

These days, when I meet people for the first time, it might seem to them that I have no other interests besides plants. Which, of course, isn’t true; I have many other interests, and some of them came before I ever heard the siren song of chlorophyll. But now that I’m a bona fide plant nerd, I can’t help but look at some of my old interests through a green lens. My crafting passion now incorporates bits of leaves and flowers; I make music playlists with botanical themes; and on every camping trip, I bring at least one field guide along. This year in the U.S. National Arboretum’s National Herb Garden, I was able to combine my lifelong love of Greek mythology with my (slightly) newer-found zeal for herbs and created a botanical display that explores some of the stories behind herbs and their scientific names.

The ancient Greeks used myth to help explain aspects of the natural world, like the origin of certain flowers. In turn, botanists throughout the centuries have been inspired to name plants after Greek mythological characters, such as yarrow’s genus, Achillea, named for the hero, Achilles. Here are a few more examples of herbs and their relationship to Greek myths.

Sweetflag (Acorus calamus)
Sweetflag was considered sacred to Pan, a half man/half goat god of wild places. One myth tells the story of the nymph, Syrinx, who was transformed into a stand of sweetflag reeds to escape Pan’s advances, which he then fashioned into the set of pipes he’s often depicted as playing. In another myth, Kalamos was transformed into a stand of reeds due to his grief over the death of his beloved. 

Larkspur (Consolida ajacis)
Ajacis in this plant’s scientific name refers to Ajax, the Greek hero who competed with Odysseus for the armor of Achilles. Ajax lost this competition and killed himself in shame. A purple flower sprang from the ground where his blood fell.

Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
The genus of this flower was named for the centaur, Chiron, who was skilled in medicinal plants and taught the god Asclepius. Centaurs were mythological creatures with the head and torso of a human and legs and body of a horse.

Oak (Quercus spp.)
Drys is the Greek word for oak, and dryads were nymphs who were regarded as the spirits of these trees. An oak would sprout when a dryad was born, and if the tree was cut down, its dryad would die with it.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Persephone was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld, to be his wife. Zeus compelled him to return Persephone to her mother, Demeter, which he did – although first tricking her into eating some pomegranate seeds. Because of this, Persephone must spend a portion of the year in the underworld, while enjoying the rest of the year above ground with her mother.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
Melissa was a daughter of King Melisseus of Crete and may have been Zeus’s nursemaid. She also taught humanity how to use honey. Priestesses of Demeter and Artemis, as well as the maidens who bestowed the gift of prophecy to Apollo, were called Melissas.

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
The genus Asclepias, which includes butterfly weed and milkweed, was named for the god of medicine, Asclepius. He was the son of Apollo and was raised and taught by the centaur Chiron. He’s often depicted with a staff entwined with a serpent—the Rod of Asclepius—which has been adopted as the symbol of the medical profession.

Olive (Olea europaea)
The gods Athena and Poseidon once competed to see who could create the best gift for mankind. Poseidon produced the first horse, and Athena the first olive tree. Zeus declared Athena the winner, and her prize was dominion over the Greek city of Athens.

Photo Credits: 1) Achillea millefolium ‘Colorado Mix’ (Erin Holden); 2) Acorus calamus (Erin Holden); 3) Consolida ajacis (Chrissy Moore); 4) Centaurea cyanus (Tauno Erik); 5) Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis (Rainer Burkard); 6) Punica granatum (Erin Holden); 7) Melissa officinalis (Chrissy Moore); 8) Asclepias tuberosa (Chrissy Moore); 9) Olea europaea (Dennis Koutou)

Erin is the gardener for the National Herb Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the American Herbalists Guild, United Plant Savers, and The Herb Society of America.