AI illustration
Alamat ng Sampaguita
Tagalog people tell an alamat about the sampaguita, the small white flower sold on streets. In the common retelling, a faithful young woman's love becomes a white flower. Names and plots differ, so we give only the shape of the story.
Folklore is retold; versions differ.
Sources: Wikipedia: Jasminum sambac (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikidata (CC0)
The story
The sampaguita is a small, white, sweet-smelling jasmine flower. Wikipedia says the name comes from the Tagalog word sampaga, which means jasmine, plus the Spanish ending -ita. Other names include kampupot in Tagalog, manul in Visayan and malul in Maguindanao.
The Philippines named it the national flower on 1 February 1934, in Proclamation No. 652 by Governor-General Frank Murphy, during American rule. People string the flowers into garlands. Vendors sell them at church doors and street corners. Families place garlands on holy images and on photos of the dead. Hosts put them around the necks of guests and graduates. Long ropes of buds decorate weddings and state events, and sometimes serve as the ribbon at an opening.
In the common alamat, a faithful young woman's love turns into the white flower. Names and plots differ from teller to teller. The Wikipedia article gives no origin legend, so no single version is established.