i was coming upstairs with an armful of tulips the other day and on the landing met zhou min, the chinese sociologist in my building. he complimented me on the flowers, and i answered automatically, 郁金香. that rather surprised me, for i hadn't realised that i had known what they were called in chinese, and that it would come so readily to the tongue.

here are some other names i can think of:

胡姬 - orchid
牡丹 - peony
百合 - lily
九重葛 is such a pretty name for bougainvillea, even if that's not the scientific name
茉莉 is jasmine
向日葵 - sunflower
玫瑰 is rose, that's common knowledge
but what is 夹竹桃? they are the dark pink ones you see along east coast road.
含羞草 - mimosa
水仙 - narcissus
牵牛花 - morning glory
康乃馨 - carnation (this is the first name in the list that is a transliteration, most likely from the english, which suggests that the flower was not known in the chinese-speaking world, and that its association with mothers' day has been given consideration in the choice of these particular characters in transliteration)
蔷薇 - i don't know what this is in english. does anyone?
秋海棠 - another of those you see in chinese poetry all the time but i have no idea if i have ever seen.
紫丁香 - i like to think this is some kind of violet, but i'm sure i'm wrong
紫罗兰 - i've seen these mentioned in chinese translations of hans christian andersen's "little ida's flowers" so they must be a flower known in the west.
夜来香 - is that just a common name for jasmine, do you think? night-blooming jasmine?
大红花 - hibiscus, is such a 俗气 name.
菊花 - chrysanthemum

what others do we know?