Anyone heard of a flower called "aniccam?"

[rajam]

Dear Whitney,

The poems don't indicate that the flower perishes, though. The  
emphasis is on its delicateness, softness, and gentleness. So I  
wonder whether the flower's "reflex" action ("to wilt" when someone  
smells it) fascinated the poet. Maybe one could find a similar flower  
somewhere -- I hope!

Thanks and regards,
VSR

On Mar 21, 2010, at 1:18 AM, Whitney Cox wrote:

> Dear Rajam,
>
> In line with your observation that the flower is supposedly "super
> sensitive", it seems possible to me that the derivation of the name
> might be from a-nitya ("impermanent," "perishable"), rather than
> an+icchā (I see that the MTL, p. 191 thinks the same thing).   
> However,
> I don't know of any flower called anitya in Sanskrit.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Whitney
>
> On 21 March 2010 06:00, rajam <rajam at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Has anyone on this list come across a plant/flower type named  
>> "aniccha" in
>> any non-Tamil literature?
>> Has anyone seen it (in person or in a picture)?
>>
>> "Aniccam" is listed just as a flower in early Tamil poetry. Later  
>> on, the
>> focus is on the flower's super sensitivity--about how it would  
>> wilt at the
>> contact of human breath, how it would harm a woman [with a slender  
>> waist] if
>> she wears the flower without removing its stem, ... and so on.
>>
>> There is a thought that the term "anicca" is derived thus: a +  
>> iccha (a +
>> icchaa - Without Desire/Wish).
>>
>> What is your thought? Are there similar flowers extolled in non- 
>> Tamil poetry
>> for such super sensitivity?
>>
>> Thanks and regards,
>> V.S. Rajam
>> < (www.letsgrammar.org)>
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
>
>
> Dr. Whitney Cox
> Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia,
> School of Oriental and African Studies
> Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
> London WC1H 0XG