Lanna Flowers: dok kwao, dok kham pu chu, orchids and more

Many Lanna flowers have Kham Mueang names nothing like their central Thai names, even flowers people see every day. The marigold, for example, is dok kham pu chu, and the flame of the forest, the provincial tree of Chiang Mai, is dok kwao (ดอฯกกวฯาวฯ, Kham Mueang reading dok kwao). This article collects flower names from the Moradok Lanna dictionary, with their Lanna script, meanings and real photos.

The word dok mai (ดอฯกไม้, flower) is used as in central Thai, while the name of each flower usually starts with dok followed by its own name. The flowers are grouped as flowering trees, scented flowers, garden flowers, lotuses and orchids, wild flowers, and flowers you can eat.

Names nothing like central Thai

Try guessing first what central Thai calls the flowers in this table. Several are impossible to guess if you have never heard them.

Some names explain themselves. The dictionary says dok hom kai means "the flower whose scent drifts far" (hom kai = smells far), and dok sam si, "three-colour flower", is the confederate rose, which opens white and turns pink and then deep pink within a single day.

Flowering trees

Many large trees in the North flower so thickly they can be recognised from afar. The dictionary records dok kwao as the provincial tree of Chiang Mai: its flowers grow in clusters shaped like pea flowers, velvety, in orange and in yellow. Dok sa la pi (ดอฯกสาหลฯะพี, Mammea siamensis) is the provincial tree of Phayao.

Scented flowers

The dictionary describes each flower's scent in detail: "strongly scented", "cool scent", "smells far", and some only at night.

Garden flowers

Flowers grown around the house have their own Kham Mueang names too. Dok kham pu chu (ดอฯกฅำปู้จู้, Kham Mueang reading dok kham pu chu) is the marigold. The dictionary adds that besides being pretty, its buds can be blanched and dipped in chilli paste or eaten with lap, and the open flowers can be made into a yam salad.

Lotuses, orchids and wild flowers

Dok ueang (ดอฯกเอิ้อฯง, Kham Mueang reading dok ueang) means orchid: the dictionary says the North calls orchids ueang, both the ones that grow in the ground and the ones that cling to trees. Two have their own names: dok ueang phoeng (ดอฯกเอิ้อฯงเผิ้งฯ, Kham Mueang reading dok ueang phoeng), the bright yellow "bee orchid" that flowers from February to April, and dok ueang kham (ดอฯกเอิ้อฯงฅำ), which flowers from February to May.

Flowers you can eat

Some flowers are both flowers and vegetables. The dictionary says they can be eaten, and some have dishes of their own. Read more about edible wild greens and tree shoots in Lanna wild greens, and about garden greens in Kham Mueang garden greens.

The ngio flower is a key ingredient of nam ngiao. See khanom chin nam ngiao and almost a hundred more Northern dishes in Kin Lam Kin Lam.

Dok that are not flowers

Flowers are also central to many Lanna traditions. Read on in Sai Khan Dok, Tan Kuay Salak and Poy Luang.

Summary

• Kham Mueang flower names start with dok, and many are completely different from central Thai: dok kham pu chu (marigold), dok mai (hibiscus), dok kom (bougainvillea).
• Dok kwao (flame of the forest) is the provincial tree of Chiang Mai, and dok sa la pi (saraphi) that of Phayao.
• Dok kaeo in Kham Mueang is phikun (Spanish cherry), not the central Thai dok kaeo.
• The North calls orchids ueang, as in dok ueang phoeng and dok ueang kham.
• Many flowers are eaten: dok kae, dok ngio and dok sa liam (neem flowers).

Look up more flower names in the Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai), and read about tree and bamboo names in Kham Mueang trees and bamboo.

Sources

• Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai): ดอกไม้ · ดอกกว๋าว · ดอกคำปู้จู้ · ดอกเอื้องเผิ้ง · ดอกแก
• All flower photos are from Wikimedia Commons, identified by the scientific name of each file, with credits under each photo.