Orchidaceae tubers after detecting the plants underground by scent. Orchids have been used in traditional medicine in an effort to treat many diseases and ailments. They have been used as a source of herbal remedies in China since 2800 BC. "Gastrodia elata" is one of the three orchids listed in the earliest known Chinese Materia Medica ("Shennon bencaojing") (c. 100 AD). Theophrastus mentions orchids in his "Enquiry into Plants" (372–286 BC). Orchids have many associations with symbolic values. For example, the orchid is the City Flower of Shaoxing, China. "Cattleya mossiae" is the national Venezuelan flower, while "Cattleya trianae" is the
A Flower in a Sinful Sea addition the word sounds similar to "hua" (T: 華, S: 华, P: "huá", W: "hua"), meaning China. The title has also been translated as "Flower in a Sea of Sin", "Flower in the Sea of Retribution", "Flower in the World of Retribution", "Flower in a Sea of Karma", "Flower in the Sea of Evil" or "A Flower in an Ocean of Sin". In the earlier versions of the novel by Jin Tianhe, Sai Jinhua, a courtesan, travels to the west with her husband, a scholar. They meet Russian anarchists and the novel describes the history of the Russian anarchist movement.