I have been much puzzled to know what was the Sunflower of classical
story,--in other words, what was the flower into which, according to the
legend, Clytie was so sadly changed.
I had always supposed, as nearly every one supposes, that it was what
_we_ call the Sunflower (the Helianthus), with its upright stem and
large radiated disc. But, first of all, I found, as a matter of fact,
that the Helianthus does _not_ follow the course of the Sun, and that
various blossoms of the same plant may at the same time be facing in
different directions. And then I found, what of course was fatal, that
the Helianthus is not a European plant at all, and first came to us from
North America.
Having consulted _Notes and Queries_ in vain, I determined to look into
the matter more closely, as it seemed to me a rather curious question.
If the Sunflower of the Classics was not the Helianthus, and if this, as
I imagine, only obtained its name from its flowers, which in some way
resemble the old pictures of the Sun, could it be the plant we know as
_Heliotrope_? The name of course means "turning Sunward," but again the
name is no guide to us; the scented flowers of the Heliotrope do not, so
far as I know, turn to the Sun, and in any case the plant is of Peruvian
and not of European origin.
I then fell back upon the classical authors themselves. I got nothing
very distinct from Theophrastus, and moreover it is Ovid, to whom we
chiefly owe our knowledge of the story. He tells us that when her lover
Phoebus left her, poor Clytie "still gazed on the face of the departing
god, and bent her looks on him. It is said that she remained rooted to
the ground; of her fresh bloom ('color'), part is turned by livid pallor
into bloodless leaves, on part a blush remains, and a flower most like a
Violet has covered all her face. Held firmly by the root, she still
turns to the Sun she loves, and, changed herself, she keeps her love
unchanged."
Pliny says the Heliotropium "turns with the Sun, in cloudy weather even,
so great is its sympathy with that luminary. At night, as though in
regret, it closes its blue flowers."
What then can this flower be, a blue flower, which turns towards the
Sun?
I next examined the magnificent volumes of Sibthorp's _Flora Graeca_.
There is there indeed a European "Heliotropium," "Heliotropium supinum,"
but this surely cannot be the flower of Clytie; the blossom is quite
insignificant ("flore minimo") and _white_. Then there are two Crotons
(Tinctorium and Villosum) which are also locally called Heliotropium,
and which grow in Crete and Lemnos ("ex qua paratur Tournesol"), but
their flowers again are hardly more noticeable and are _yellow_.
Foiled at every point, I thought I would at least see what in _England_
was the traditionary Sunflower, but I am hardly any wiser.
Gerarde says that Valerius Cordius calls the dwarf Cistus Helianthemum,
and Solis flos or Sunne-flower. He quotes Pliny as calling it also
"Heliocalliden, or the Beautie of the Sunne;" and adds, "which if it be
the Sunneflower, yet there is another of the same name, but which may be
taken for the right it is hard to tell (but that experience teacheth
us), seeing Plinie is so breefe."
Gerarde has also a chapter on the "Tornesole," and says, "there be five
sorts of Tornesole, differing one from another in many notable points,
as in greatnesse and smallnesse, in colour of flowers, in forme and
shape," and then he describes the varieties of "Tornesoles" or
"Heliotropium."
He says, "the Graecians call it Heliotropium;"--"it is named
Heliotropium, not because it is turned about at the daily motion of the
sunne, but by reason it flowreth in the summer solstice, at which time
the sunne being farthest gone from the equinoctiale circle, returneth to
the same;" but he adds that the French and Italians call it "Turnesol,"
and says, "it is also called Herba Clitiae, whereof the poet hath these
verses,
"'Herba velut Clitiae semper petit obvia solem,
Sic pia mens Christum, quo prece spectet, habet.'"
Cowley's Sunflower is called in a foot-note Chrysanthemum Peruvianum,
but is probably a form of Helianthus. The flower is supposed to speak,
and claims to be a _child_ of the Sun, for,
"My orb-like aspect bound with rays
The very picture of his face displays;
and again,
"I still adore my sire with prostrate face,
Turn where he turns, and all his motions trace."
So after all I am as much in the dark as ever. Was the mysterious
flower, as some suggest, a Calendula (Marygold), or an Aster? I cannot
tell, and only know that neither answers the description. On the whole
then I am disposed to wonder whether either Ovid or Pliny knew much more
about the matter than ourselves, and I may some day come to doubt
whether Clytie was ever turned into a Sunflower at all.[13]
[13] One of our very best living authorities on such a subject has sent
me the suggestion that the common Salsafy, or possibly the Anagallis,
may be the flower, but he adds (agreeing with Gerarde), "the word
Heliotropium does not mean a flower which turns to the sun, but which
flowers at the solstice."