SHELLFLOWER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shellflower mean? 

• SHELLFLOWER (noun)
  The noun SHELLFLOWER has 2 senses:

1. showy perennial of marshlands of eastern and central North America having waxy lanceolate leaves and flower with lower part creamy white and upper parts pale pink to deep purple

2. cultivated for its shining oblong leaves and arching clusters of white flowers with pink shading and crinkled yellow lips with variegated magenta stripes

  Familiarity information: SHELLFLOWER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHELLFLOWER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Showy perennial of marshlands of eastern and central North America having waxy lanceolate leaves and flower with lower part creamy white and upper parts pale pink to deep purple

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Chelone glabra; shell-flower; shellflower; snake-head; snakehead; turtlehead

Hypernyms ("shellflower" is a kind of...):

bog plant; marsh plant; swamp plant (a semiaquatic plant that grows in soft wet land; most are monocots: sedge, sphagnum, grasses, cattails, etc; possibly heath)

Holonyms ("shellflower" is a member of...):

Chelone; genus Chelone (herbaceous perennials: shellflower)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cultivated for its shining oblong leaves and arching clusters of white flowers with pink shading and crinkled yellow lips with variegated magenta stripes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Alpinia speciosa; Alpinia Zerumbet; Languas speciosa; shall-flower; shell ginger; shellflower

Hypernyms ("shellflower" is a kind of...):

ginger (perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems)

Holonyms ("shellflower" is a member of...):

Alpinia; genus Alpinia; genus Languas; genus Zerumbet (perennial rhizomatous herbs of Asia and Australia and Polynesia having ginger-scented rhizomes)