amancay

The notion of amancay comes from the Quechua word ammankay, which can be translated as "Lily". The term is used to name different species from vegetables that look like the lilies.

It is interesting to mention that the concept is used in the naming of plants of various genres. That is why the amancayes can be quite different from each other.

The plant with the scientific name Alstroemeria patagónica is known as amancay.

Amancayes of the genus Plumeria

Before moving on, it must be borne in mind that the way to refer to plants depends on each region. In different areas, for example, amancay is called bush scientific name Plumeria rubra.

This amancay, also referred to as cacalosuchil, frangipani, frangipan, poppy, bighorn wallflower, raven flower, sacuanjoche, jasmine magno, suchi or may Flower, usually measures about five meters and has purple, pinkish or yellowish flowers that stand out for their smell.

To the Plumeria alba it is called amancay, white wallflower, White Lily, carachuchi, caracucha, tabeiba or tabaiba. In this case, it is an ornamental tree whose latex is used for medicinal purposes and its wood, as a fuel.

Amancay is one of the common names for Plumeria alba.

Patagonian plants

The Patagonian Alstroemeria, which grows in southern Argentina and of chili, is known as yellow lily, amancay of the desert Or simply amancay. It measures about one and a half meters and generates a single flower orange or yellow hue.

The Alstroemeria aurea, meanwhile, is the golden amancay. Reaches a height less than amancay del desert and its flowers are orange and yellow with red spots.

The legend of Amancay

In the Argentine Patagonia, especially in the city of Bariloche, there is a legend that revolves around a young woman named Amancay. According to history, this humble girl was in love with Quintral, descendant of the chief of his tribe. Due to social differences, the link between the two was impossible.

When a epidemic began to decimate the population, Quintral he also got sick. Desperate Amancay resorted to a machi (that is, to a shaman) and she instructed him to look for a yellow flower on the top of a mountain to achieve the salvation of Quintral.

AmancayIn this way, he climbed until he reached the flower, which he pulled out. Faced with this situation, a divinity who guarded the mountain appeared and demanded that he return it. Amancay He proposed a deal: she would give him his heart if the gods saved Quintral. With the accepted pact, the guardian of the mountain took the heart of the young woman; of each drop that fell from it, indicates the legend, a new yellow flower sprouted.

For this reason, at present, the amancay flower symbolizes the love. It is said that whoever gives an amancay, gives his heart with it.

A woman's name

Amancay is a name that, beyond the Patagonian legend, carry many women South American. We can refer, in this framework, to the Argentine soccer player Amancay Urbani.

This Santa Fe forward contested the 2019 World Cup and has played for equipment Europeans like him Deportivo Alavés and the Osasuna Female.

We also find the term Amancay in multiple stores, clubs and venues. In the Province Argentina from Cordova, to mention a site, Villa Amancay It is a commune of Calamuchita Valley which has about three hundred inhabitants.