Recognizing the abstract nature of time, some sage once observed that time (L. tempus) doesn't pass, we do. Yet, time significantly impacts all living things, and plants are no exception. Their names and growth patterns reflect that idea.
As though ruminating on the nature of time, each blossom of the commonly named yesterday, today, and tomorrow [Brunfelsia pauciflora (L. few-flowered) 'Floribunda' (L. flowering abundantly)] undergoes color fading from yesterday (dark purple) to today (lighter purple) through tomorrow (white). It is not just old soldiers that fade away.
Mirabilis (L. wonderful) is the botanical name for four o'clock. The common name references the fact that the flowers open late in the afternoon. This is echoed in their family name Nyctaginaceae, which comes from the Greek nyx or nyxtos (night) and anthos (a flower), for blossoms that open at dusk, only to fall at dawn.
Primula, the primrose, gets its name by contraction of the Latin primula veris, meaning that it is among the first to flower during springtime.
The genus Calendula derives its name from the Latin calendae - the first day of the month - because Calendula officinalis, known as the English marigold, has a lengthy blooming period through many first days of the month.
The lotus (Nelumbo) has metaphorically represented the passage of time through many periods and many cultures (Persian, Egyptian, Buddhist, and Hindu ( because its huge blossom opens as dawn breaks and it sinks with the setting of the sun. Its family name Nelumbonaceae is Sindalese for holy or sacred lotus. The two lotus species are Nelumbo lutea (L. yellow; the American lotus) and Nelumbo nucifera (L. nucis, nux, nut-bearing; the sacred lotus). In Buddhism, the lotus has traditionally represented enlightenment, with its roots in the mud (of human existence) to rising above the water to blossom in the light (of enlightenment). Considering the holy and sacred qualities that it embodies, the lotus seed is extremely viable through time. A dormant seed 1300 years old, buried for centuries in an ancient dry lake bed, was germinated by UCLA's Jane Shen-Miller.
Prunus (L. plum) mume, called the Japanese flowering plum or Japanese apricot, if let alone grows into an interesting gnarled old tree, from which the delicate white, pink, or red blossoms emerge, paying no attention to the weather. They therefore represent persistence and the perpetual return of spring after the long winter.
Tempus fugit (L. Time flies),
So I must say,
"Tempus ludendi."
(It's time for play.)
I'm gathering Rosaceae (L. roses)
_____ While I may.