Legend of Sampaguita

By Rudy Arizala
There are so many legends written or I have heard about
Philippine flowers, especially Sampagita our national flower. By the
way, the Sampagita was declared a national flower of the Philippines in
1934 by then U.S, Governor General Frank Murphy.
Hereunder is what I heard about the legend of Sampagita which
could have been adopted from the legend of the Ilang-Ilang, another
Philippine flower with some slight variations.
Once upon a time there was a beautiful maiden who lived near
the forest. She was very pretty with white complexion like that of a
Sampaga flower. So, her parents named her Sampagita(which means
small or tiny Sampaga)
She had many suitors but she fell in love with each other and
often met whenever Sampagita fetches water.

One day Sampagitas parents discovered about the love affair

between the woodcutter and Sampagita. The parents of Sampagita
objected to such love affair because they want their daughter to marry
a rich man instead of the poor woodcutter. The parents of Sampagita
prohibited her from going out of the house since then, not even to
fetch water from the spring.

Sampagita became lonely and could not eat, until she

became ill and died. her dying wish was to be buried at a

place near the spring where she used to fetch water and
meet her lover, the woodcutter.
Her poor woodcutter lover was so sad that he sat day and
night near the grave of Sampagita and cried. His tears
dropped over the grave of Sampagita.
Several days later, he was surprised to discover a tiny green
plant was growing over the grave of Sampagita. He took
good care of said plant until it grew into a robust shrub. One
day the people of the village were attracted to the sweet
fragrance coming from the grave of Sampagita. The plant
was in full bloom with white tiny star like flowers. And they
remember Sampagitas love affair with the poor woodcutter who
grieved and shredded the tears over the grave of Sampagita. Since
then, they also called the flower Sampagita. Symbol of pure, undying
sweet love affair.