ROY ARTHUR HUNT

AUGUST 3, 1881 – OCTOBER 21, 1966

RACHEL McMASTERS MILLER HUNT

Wife of ROY ARTHUR HUNT

June 30, 1882 – February 22, 1963

The Hunt family marker in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh has two matching flowers flanking the central part of the gravestone.  Often stylized flowers are difficult to key, but the distinct features of the fritillaria made this one easy.  The fritillaria is in the lily family and the common English name is “snake head’s”. 

Many flowers can be found in dictionaries explaining flowers’ meaning. In Victorian times, flowers took on significance as a way to send coded messages; this was known as floriography from the Latin combining flora—“goddess of flowers”—and graphein—“writing.”

In 1878, Kate Greenaway, a popular author and illustrator, gained fame for an illustrated children’s book of verse she wrote titled Under the Window, which delighted children.  Just six short years later, Greenaway published the Language of Flowers.  And although, the book is a nearly complete listing of flowers along with their “secret” or symbolic meanings, I could find no meaning for any of the various common names for the fritillaria—guinea-hen flower, leper lily, drooping tulip, or checkered daffodil.

Perhaps, since there doesn’t seem to be a symbolic meaning, this flower was a family favorite.