The Latin root of ranunculus is rana, which means “frog”. In Beal’s “Flower Love and Legend”, she writes that this name “was given in ancient times because it so often grew in places where frogs would sing.” A commonly shared origin story of the flower is the tale of Ranunculus, a handsome young Libyan man noted for his melodious voice and fine clothing of green and yellow silks. One day while out walking through the woods, he was singing to the woodland nymphs when, according to Beals, “he became so entranced with his own music that he expired in ecstasy and Orpheus [the Greek hero and musician] transformed him into the brilliant little flower.

It’s also known as a flower of resurrection because it’s a drought tolerant wildflower found growing naturally throughout Israel. Researchers discovered that when the cells of the storage roots we viewed under a microscope, they very closely resembled the six-pointed star known as the Seal of Solomon among Muslims, or the Star of David in Judaism. This structure allows the flower to store enough water to sustain itself for prolonged periods and is capable of shielding itself from harm.

This popular bloom is made from hand-dyed coffee filters and delicately hand-crafted one petal at a time with glue around a thick wire stem. They are very realistic and oh so lovely. I have selected a few of my favorite color choices, but if you need a custom color please leave that in the notes when checking out. Price is per stem and production time is about two weeks.