ageratum

American  

[aj-uh-rey-tuhm, uh-jer-uh-] / ˌædʒ əˈreɪ təm, əˈdʒɛr ə- /

noun

1. any of several composite plants of the genus Ageratum, especially A. houstonianum, having heart-shaped leaves and small, dense, blue, lavender, or white flower heads, often grown in gardens.

2. any of various other composite plants, as the mistflower, having blue or white flowers.

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ageratum British  

/ ˌædʒəˈreɪtəm /

noun

1. any tropical American plant of the genus Ageratum, such as A. houstonianum and A. conyzoides, which have thick clusters of purplish-blue flowers

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Etymology

Origin of ageratum

1560–70; < New Latin; Latin agēraton < Greek agḗraton, neuter of agḗratos unaging, equivalent to a- a- ⁶ + gērat- (stem of gêras ) old age + -os adj. suffix

Example Sentences

Taking a different approach, Entomologist William Bowers, of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, has isolated two substances from ageratum, a flowering plant, that interfere with an insect's production of juvenile hormones.

From Time Magazine Archive

Eupatorium—Thoroughwort Two forms are in the market—E. ageratoides, bearing numerous small white flowers in late summer, and E. cœlestinum, with light blue flowers similar to the ageratum.

From Making a Garden of Perennials by Egan, W. C. (William Constantine)

Oxalis tropæoloides; center, blue heliotrope, blue ageratum, or Acalypha marginata; cross about the center, Thymus argenteus, or centaurea; scallop outside the cross, blue lobelia; corners, inside border, santolina.

From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)

Along the walks ageratum was planted in the following manner to serve as a border.

From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Shaw, Ellen Eddy

The soft blue tufts of the ageratum were on each side continually.

From Bonaventure A Prose Pastoral of Acadian Louisiana by Cable, George Washington