Home › Glossary › Letter T

Tuberose

Flora
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A bulbous plant with intensely fragrant white flowers on tall spikes, blooming in late summer.

Detailed Definition
Tuberose symbolizes dangerous pleasures, voluptuousness, and intoxicating beauty in poetry. The overwhelming fragrance can cause headaches while being irresistibly attractive, making it represent excessive pleasure or beauty that overwhelms. In Victorian poetry, tuberose suggested forbidden attractions. The pure white flowers contrasting with heady scent create tension between purity and sensuality. Poets use tuberose to represent seduction, overpowering beauty, the dangerous edge of pleasure, and flowers whose signature quality (scent) can be too much of a good thing.
Example
Example in poetry:
Tuberose's intensely sweet, narcotic fragrance represents dangerous pleasure and sensual excess; In Victorian conservatory poetry, tuberoses symbolize exotic cultivation and night gardens; The flowers' white color and heavy scent create imagery of tropical nights; Tuberose in perfumery poetry represents essential oils and captured essence; The plant's tuber storage represents dormancy and dramatic awakening; In funeral poetry, tuberoses' association with death adds somber fragrance
Additional Notes
Tuberose is renowned for its powerful, almost intoxicating fragrance released at night, making it a frequent emblem of sensuality and nocturnal allure. In Victorian symbolism it could suggest dangerous pleasure. Its tall white spikes are visually striking, offering vertical emphasis in imagery of summer evenings or moonlit gardens.
Other Meanings of “Tuberose”
Also Known As
Polianthes Night-Scented Tuberose
Skip to main content