GLORIOSA

gloriosa, in botany, a small genus of plants belonging to the natural order liliaceae, native of tropical asia and africa. they are bulbous plants, the slender stems of which support themselves by tendril-like prolongations of the tips of some of the narrow generally lanceolate leaves. the flowers, which are borne in the leaf-axils at the ends of the stem, are very handsome, the six, generally narrow, petals are bent back and stand erect, and are a rich orange yellow or red in colour; the six stamens project more or less horizontally from the place of insertion of the petals. they are generally grown in cultivation as stove-plants. glory (through the o. fr. _glorie_, modern _gloire_, from lat. _gloria_, cognate with gr. [greek: kleos, kluein]), a synonym for fame, renown, honour, and thus used of anything which reflects honour and renown on its possessor. in the phrase "glory of god" the word implies both the honour due to the creator, and his majesty and effulgence. in liturgies of the christian church are the _gloria patri_, the doxology beginning "glory be to the father," the response _gloria tibi, domine_, "glory be to thee, o lord," sung or said after the giving out of the gospel for the day, and the _gloria in excelsis_, "glory be to god on high," sung during the mass and communion service. a "glory" is the term often used as synonymous with halo, nimbus or aureola (q.v.) for the ring of light encircling the head or figure in a pictorial or other representation of sacred persons.