babe-in-a-cradle

noun

a tall orchid, Epiblema grandiflorum, of SW Australia with lilac to mauve flowers

Word Origin for babe-in-a-cradle

named from a fancied resemblance of its column to a baby in a cradle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012