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- Love Lies Bleeding (Amaranthus Hypochondriacus):
- translation: unwhithering; with a tail.
synonyms: Prince's Feather, Velvet Flower, Red Cockscomb, Lady Bleeding, Lovely Bleeding, Tassel Flower.
definition: hopeless, not heartless; unfading love; immortality.
In ancient Greece, Amaranth was sacred to Ephesian Artemis, said to embody her renowned ability at healing. It was used to decorate tombs and images of gods as a symbol of immortality. The early Christian Church also adopted the Amaranth as a symbol of immortality, and it was grown in monastery gardens in the Middle Ages. In Paradise Lost, Milton crowns the angels with Amaranth. Before the Spanish conquest, the Aztecs associated Amaranths with human sacrifice, Aztec women made a mixture of grain Amaranth, honey, and human blood and formed the mixture into idols that were eaten ceremoniously. The Spanish saw this practice as a satanic perversion of Christian communion, and outlawed them in South America. However, they were taken by the plant's beauty, and imported it to Europe as a decorative plant. Amaranth is considered an astringent, and has been administered for various haemorrhages, for spitting blood, and for menstual disorders. It is also used as a sponge for sores and ulcers. Amaranths are not poisonous, but if planted in nitrogen rich soils they can accumulate nitrates into the leaves to such a degree that they can cause a number of health problems.
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