Its order Asparagales, its family Alliaceae, the genus is Agapanthus, or we can just call it the “love flower.” That is Agapanthus’ botanical birthright, with the Greek word agape, meaning love and anthos, meaning flower.
While we may have strayed from the true essence of this blue African beauty, its medicinal value holds symbolic meaning as well. In its native land, expectant mothers would boil down Agapanthus roots and drink the tonic for health and to encourage labor contractions. The mothers would often adorn a charm made from the dried agapanthus roots as a token of good health for the expected baby. (www.gardenguides.com)
The love flower held symbolism for “healthy baby” in South Africa, but Queen Victoria pushed its symbolism up to the courting stage of love. The Queen’s rein, known as the Victorian era, promoted the language of flowers, which utilized sometimes secret, others overt, meanings behind a gesture of flowers. Agapanthus rightly took the role of being a love letter in the botanical form.