Species Podalyria argentea

For Podalirius (La.), from Podaleirios (Gk.), son of Asklepios, god of healing. He and his brother, Machaon were physicians to the Greek army during the Trojan wars, as described in the Iliad. The brothers’ great feat was the healing of the festering foot of Philoctetes, who was badly needed for his arrows, but whose fetid stench sorely disturbed the warriors. The flowers of this genus are strongly fragrant but not unpleasantly so, rather sweet-smelling.