Susan Loy
Volume 3 presents a comprehensive botanical dictionary drawn from 38 language of flowers books from the earliest nineteenth-century French dictionaries and those published in England and North America. This dictionary addresses the ambiguity of common flower names by grouping flowers under their prevailing common name, identifying alternate names, providing cross-references, and, most importantly, supplying the botanical name as identified in nineteenth-century language of flowers books. For example, the Autumn Crocus (Colchicum autumnale) carries 12 different sentiments, and each is cross-referenced to a particular historical source. This dictionary is an invaluable tool for tracing the chronological evolution of flower associations, assessing consensus on particular meanings, and understanding nuances in the flower language.Volume 3 also updates the language of flowers for the modern era by adding plant emojis and flowers not included in Victorian dictionaries. It catalogues 79 flower and plant emojis recognized by the Unicode Consortium, providing an image, date of adoption, popularity ranking, Unicode sentiment, and meanings drawn from crowdsourced and curated emoji dictionaries and blogs. A final section lists twenty new additions to the language of flowers, including flowers not found in Victorian dictionaries, such as florist flowers and exotic species unknown to earlier writers. The new additions and emojis extend this centuries-old tradition into the present day.From the earliest French dictionaries to the latest Unicode emojis, Volume 3 bridges past and present. Together, the botanical dictionary, emoji catalogue, and new additions provide an indispensable reference for the tradition of associating flowers with symbolic meanings.
