candytuft

American  

[kan-dee-tuhft] / ˈkæn diˌtʌft /

noun

1. a plant of the genus Iberis, of the mustard family, especially I. umbellata, an ornamental plant with tufted pink, violet, purple, or red flowers, originally from the island of Crete.

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candytuft British  

/ ˈkændɪˌtʌft /

noun

1. either of two species of Iberis grown as annual garden plants for their umbels ("tufts") of white, red, or purplish flowers See iberis

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Etymology

Origin of candytuft

1570–80; Candy (variant of Candia ) + tuft

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

candytuft

A colonel stood in a Tunisian valley sniffing at a handful of candytuft and Arabis and crimson poppies and yellow marguerites.

From Time Magazine Archive

But how astonished you would be if, in the spot where you had sown white candytuft, you were to find yellow tulips!

From Twilight and Dawn Simple Talks on the Six Days of Creation by Caroline Pridham

The bright little garden at the back was gay with summer color; roses, geraniums, balsams, candytuft; crimson and purple, and white and scarlet flashed up everywhere.

From The Other Girls by A. D. T. (Adeline Dutton Train) Whitney

On the stalks of larkspur and phlox she laid a mass of pink snapdragons and white candytuft, tucking in here and there sprays of just-opening baby’s-breath to give a misty look to the basket.

From The Camerons of Highboro by Beth Bradford Gilchrist

The common candytuft of gardens is I. umbellata, a hardy annual, native of southern Europe, and known in a number of varieties differing in colour of flowers.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various