The jasmine is an emblem of good luck and increase.
When Vasco da Gama returned from his circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century, he brought home a small, fragrant, white flower from the Far East. The flower’s Chinese name, yeh-hsi-ming, was anglicized to jasmine.
A servant working for the legendary Medici family in Italy was said to have stolen a branch of jasmine from his master to give to his bride. By law only the duke was allowed to grow jasmine. Yet the couple grew many more plants from their single cutting, enough to sell. So Italian brides often wear a sprig of jasmine on their wedding day, hoping for increase and good luck.
