A gilliflower or gillyflower () is the

carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,00 ...

or a similar plant of the genus ''

Dianthus ''Dianthus'' ( ) is a genus of about 340 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, native mainly to Europe and Asia, with a few species in north Africa and in southern Africa, and one species (''D. repens'') in arctic North Am ...

'', especially the Clove Pink ''

Dianthus caryophyllus ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of '' Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,000 years. Carnations ...

''. Its botanical name is ''

Matthiola incana ''Matthiola incana'' is a species of flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Common names include Brompton stock, common stock, hoary stock, ten-week stock, and gilly-flower. The common name stock usually refers to this species, thou ...

'', also known as stock. The same name also describes other plants, such as the

wallflower ''Erysimum'', or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. It includes more than 150 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. ''Erysimum'' is characterised by star-shaped and/or two-sided) tr ...

, which have fragrant flowers. The name derives from the French ''giroflée'' from Greek ''karyophyllon'' = " nut-leaf" = the

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

called

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

, the association deriving from the flower's scent. Gilliflowers were allegedly referenced as payment for peppercorn rent in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

feudal-tenure contracts.Cuttino, G. P. “King’s Clerks and the Community of the Realm.” ''Speculum'' 29, no. 2 (1954): 395–409. https://doi.org/10.2307/2853958. For example, in 1262 in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

a tenant held an area of land called The Hyde "for the rent of one clove of gilliflower", and Elmore Court in Gloucester was granted to the Guise family by John De Burgh for the rent of "The clove of one Gillyflower" each year. In

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in the 13th century Bartholomew de Badlesmere upon an exchange made between King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

and himself, received a royal grant in fee of a manor and chapel, to hold in

socage Socage () was one of the feudal duties and land tenure forms in the English feudal system. It eventually evolved into the freehold tenure called "free and common socage", which did not involve feudal duties. Farmers held land in exchange for ...

, "by the service of paying one pair of clove gilliflowers", by the hands of the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

. However, it is more likely that the rent was paid in the form of actual cloves (in Latin, ''gariofilum''; the flower was later named after the spice, via French), cloves and peppercorns both being exotic spices. An old recipe for gilliflower wine is mentioned in the ''Cornish Recipes Ancient & Modern'' dated to 1753: "To 3 gallons water put 6lbs of the best powder sugar; boil together for the space of 1/2 an hour; keep skimming; let it stand to cool. Beet up 3 ounces of syrup of

betony Betony is a common name for a plant which may refer to: *''Stachys'', a genus of plants containing several species commonly known as betony in Europe **''Stachys officinalis'', a historically important medicinal plant **''Stachys palustris'', a rel ...

, with a large spoonful of ale yeast, put into liquor & brew it well; put a peck of gilliflowers free of stalks; let work fore 3 days covered with a cloth; strain & cask for 3-4 weeks, then bottle."

In popular culture

A rose and a gillyflower appear on the station badge of

RAF Waterbeach Royal Air Force Waterbeach or more simply RAF Waterbeach is a former Royal Air Force station located in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which is about north of Cambridge, England. The site was transferred to the Royal Engineers, part of the British ...

in Cambridgeshire, and subsequently on the badge of 39 Engineer Regiment based at Waterbeach Barracks. A rose and gillyflower were demanded by the owner of the land on which

Waterbeach Abbey Waterbeach Abbey was an abbey at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire, England. It was established in 1294 by nuns from the Second Order of St. Francis who had come from Longchamp Abbey in France, which also at least inspired the Abbey of the Minoresse ...

was built, in the 12th century. Gilliflowers are mentioned by Mrs. Lovett in the song "Wait" from the Sondheim musical ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...

.'' They appear in the novel ''

La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret (1875) is the fifth novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series ''Les Rougon-Macquart''. Viciously anticlericalism, anticlerical in tone, it follows on from the horrific events at the end of , focussing this time on a remote Provence, Provença ...

'' (aka Abbe Mouret's Transgression or the Sin of the Father Mouret) by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

as part of the ''

Les Rougon-Macquart ''Les Rougon-Macquart'' () is the collective title given to a cycle of twenty novels by France, French writer Émile Zola. Subtitled ''Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le Second Empire'' (''Natural and social history of a family u ...

'' series. Charles Ryder calls them gillyflowers, and they grow under his student window at Oxford in the novel ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of Charles Ryder, esp ...

''.

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's Perdita is scathing about gilliflowers, or "streaked gillyvors" in Act IV, Sc 4 of his

Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

, because they are cross-fertilized by humans, rather than by Nature: "I have heard it said/There is an art which in their piedness shares/With great creating Nature ... I'll not put/The dibble in earth to set one slip of them." In the ballad ''

Clerk Saunders Clerk Saunders (Roud 3855, Child 69) is an English-language folk song, likely originating somewhere in England or Scotland. It exists in several variants. Synopsis Clerk Saunders and may Margaret ("may" meaning maiden and being a title rather tha ...

'', the ghost of Saunders tells May Margaret of the fate of those women who die in labour: "Their beds are made in the heavens high,/Down at the foot of our good Lord’s knee,/Weel set about wi’ gillyflowers;/I wot, sweet company for to see."

Gallery

File:Matthiola incana. Madeira, Portugal.jpg, Matthiola incana. Madeira, Portugal File:Matthiola incana Vintage Lilac 3zz.jpg, "Vintage Lilac," Brookside Gardens, Maryland File:Matthiola incana Vintage Burgundy 0zz.jpg, "Vintage Burgundy," Brookside Gardens, Maryland File:Matthiola incana Harmony Light Rose 2zz.jpg, "Harmony Light Rose," Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania File:Hoary Stock (Matthiola incana) (3500419409).jpg, "Hoary stock," East Sussex, England File:Matthiola Incana peach.jpg, "Peach stock"

References

{{Reflist Plant common names Garden plants