A genus of plants in the mustard family, commonly known as dame's rocket, with fragrant purple or white flowers.
From Latin Hesperis, from Greek meaning 'of the evening.' Named for the plant's fragrant flowers that smell strongest in the evening.
Dame's rocket flowers smell the strongest at evening—so when Dioscorides named it Hesperis in ancient times, he was literally naming it 'evening flower' because that's when the scent is most powerful!
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