devil's-bit

[dev-uhlz-bit]

noun

1. an eastern North American plant, Chamaelirium luteum, of the lily family, having a dense, drooping spike of small white flowers.

devil's bit

noun

1. devil's bit scabious See scabious 2

Word History and Origins

Origin of devil's bit¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

The butterfly depends on a network of marshy grassland habitat, usually grazed by cattle, with a plentiful supply of the devil's-bit scabious plant - its favourite food.

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Seven years on, it is starting to look respectable, filled with fritillaries, oxeye daisies, devil’s-bit scabious, and bird’s-foot trefoil.

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Small scabious mining bees can only be found in Scotland in the Cairngorms and feed exclusively on a plant known as devil's-bit scabious - so called because the roots come to an abrupt end "as if the devil had bitten them off".

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By recreating the glades which once existed in dense forest cover, they provide home for up to 120 flowering species, among them the devil's-bit scabious, globeflower, great burnet, lady's-mantle, oxeye daisy, pignut and wood crane's-bill.

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I asked one farmer the name of a brilliant autumnal flower whose intense purple was then unfamiliar to me—the Devil's-bit.

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