from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A genus of low terrestrial orchids, with a creeping root-stock and a tuft of basal leaves, the stem bearing a spike of small white flowers.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. genus of small orchids of the northern hemisphere with creeping rhizomes and stalked ovate leaves and small flowers
Sorry, no etymologies found.
The camellia, provided as it now is with glamorous and faintly immoral connotations, has tricked us into forgetting that its godfather was a Jesuit named Kamel; but gesnera, goodyera and fothergilla still wear their synthetic verbal grandeur with a stilted, self-conscious air like a herd in his Sunday blacks.