Hyacinth

The romantic Greek mythological associations of the hyacinth probably influenced Leyden's choice: Hyacinth was a young devotee of the god Apollo, killed when the discus they were competing with, directed by the jealous god Zephyrus, struck and killed Hyacinth. To commemorate him, Apollo turned the youth into a flower. The story was probably further in vogue as Mozart had, the year before Leyden was born, composed an opera called Apollo and Hyacinth.

[Hyacithus orientalis, Kew Gardens]