Cantua buxifolia
Cantua buxifolia | |
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Cantutas in the garden of Qurikancha (today's Convento Santo Domingo)
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Polemoniaceae |
Genus: | Cantua |
Species: | C. buxifolia
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Binomial name | |
Cantua buxifolia |
Cantua buxifolia, (
It is the national flower of
The Latin specific epithet buxifolia means “with leaves like Buxus (box)”.[3]
This plant requires sheltered conditions where the temperature does not fall below −5 °C (23 °F). In climates colder than that, it should be grown under glass but may be placed outside in summer. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.[2]
Inca legend
The
During the battle, the two kings mortally wounded each other, and were carried away. Each on his dying bed called his son and had him vow to avenge him, even if each son had been opposed to the war in the first place. Bound by their pledge, the sons prepared and led a second war even though they held no grudge against each other. History repeated, and each son inflicted a fatal wound on the other.
But instead of harsh words, the dying sons generously forgave each other, and asked that their servants place them side by side on the green grass of the battlefield. Then appeared Pachamama, goddess of fertility, who told the young kings before they died that they shouldn't have suffered from their fathers' unjustified enmity. To punish their dead fathers, their stars fell from the sky and became the snow-covered mountains still named Illimani and Illampu which are some of the highest peaks in Bolivia.
The rivers of their slowly melting snow are their tears of regret and fertilize the valleys. The cantua bloom symbolizes the people's unity, and bears the colours of the two kings' sons (red and yellow), as well as green (standing for hope).
Common names
Common names include flor del Inca (Spanish for "flower of the Inca"), magic-flower, magic-flower-of-the-Incas, magic-tree, and sacred-flower-of-the-Incas.
References
- ^ Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary)
- ^ a b "RHS Plantfinder - Cantua buxifolia". Retrieved 24 January 2018.
- ISBN 978-1845337315.
- the complete legend of the tricolor Kantuta Archived 2006-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, translated in French from Leyendas de mi tierra by Antonio Díaz Villamil (Editorial América srl, La Paz).
- "Cantua buxifolia". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
- National flowers of Bolivia