cerastium

American

[suh-ras-tee-uhm] / səˈræs ti əm /

noun

plural

cerastiums

any of various low-growing plants of the genus Cerastium, having leaves covered with whitish or grayish down and small white flowers, and including mouse-ear chickweed and snow-in-summer.

Etymology

Origin of cerastium

< New Latin (Linnaeus) < Greek kerást ( ēs ) horned ( cerastes ) + New Latin -ium -ium; so called from the horn-shaped seed capsules of some species

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mr. Packe mentions the following plants as occurring at 9000 to 10,000 feet in the Pyrenees:—Cerastium latifolium, Draba Wahlenbergii, Hutchinsia alpina, Linaria alpina, Oxyria reniformis, Ranunculus glacialis, Saxifraga nervosa, S. oppositifolia, S. Grœnlandica, Statice Armeria, Veronica alpina.

From Project Gutenberg

Cerastium vulgatum L. Flowers white; pods cylindrical; seeds light-reddish yellow to dark reddish brown; slightly flattened, 4-sided, 2 of them straight, converging, one rounded, the other narrow and notched.

From Project Gutenberg

Flowers much less than 1 cm. wide Mouse-ear Chickweed, Cerastium nutans. 19b.

From Project Gutenberg

Stem-leaves oblong Mouse-ear Chickweed, Cerastium arvense var. oblongifolium. 21a.

From Project Gutenberg

Bracts green; pedicels short and inflorescence crowded Mouse-ear Chickweed, Cerastium viscosum. 21b.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023