The Sword Lily/Field Gladiolus, in Cyprus is known as Paschalia because it flowers during Easter (the Greek for Easter is 'Paska').
The sweet Commandaria dessert wine produced in Cyprus, it is said, counteracts sterility if the corms from the Paschalia plant are crushed into powder and mixed with the wine. Farmers also use the corms for feeding their animals, which they believe will ensure they conceive. Fortunately I don't like sweet wine .... (now that would be a miracle)
THE SWORD LILIES
Cool shaded on green mossy banks
A purple-headed army stands;
The sword lilies in serried ranks
Prepare to guard their sovereign lands.
A royal head serenely stoops
And, nodding to his noble peers,
Majestically surveys his troops
Presenting arms of sharp-edged spears.
(Anon.)
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