ericaceous

American  

[er-i-key-shuhs] / ˌɛr ɪˈkeɪ ʃəs /

adjective

1. belonging to the Ericaceae, the heath family of plants.

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ericaceous British  

/ ˌɛrɪˈkeɪʃəs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Ericaceae, a family of trees and shrubs with typically bell-shaped flowers: includes heather, rhododendron, azalea, and arbutus

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Etymology

Origin of ericaceous

1880–85; < New Latin Ericace ( ae ) ( see erica, -aceae) + -ous

Example Sentences

These are not gardens that welcome ericaceous plants — acid-lovers like azaleas and other Rhododendron, or blueberries.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

Ledum, lē′dum, n. a genus of ericaceous plants.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Pernettya mucronata.—First among ericaceous plants for beauty in fruit is this Magellanic plant and its varieties.

From Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens by Cook, Ernest Thomas

The turfy slopes of the Barrens, carpeted with low ericaceous shrubs, mosses, and reindeer lichens, and dotted here and there with little thickets of dwarf birch, spruce, and tamarack, stretched invitingly before me.

From The Barren Ground Caribou of Keewatin by Harper, Francis

A genus of ericaceous flowering plants of northern climates, of which the original species was found growing on a rock surrounded by water.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah