mertensia

[ mer-ten-see-uh, -shee-uh, -shuh ]

/ mərˈtɛn si ə, -ʃi ə, -ʃə /

Save This Word!

noun

any of various plants belonging to the genus Mertensia, of the borage family, including the lungworts and the Virginia cowslip.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of mertensia

<New Latin (1797), after Franz Karl Mertens (died 1831), German botanist; see -ia

The blue mertensia crowds moist places with a thicket of stalks three feet high.
Your National Parks|Enos A. Mills
About the middle of the month the Virginian Cowslip (Mertensia virginica) begins to turn yellow before dying down.
Wood and Garden|Gertrude Jekyll
Occasionally one took a mouthful of grass or a bite of blue mertensia.
The Grizzly|Enos A. Mills
I have found primroses, phlox, and mertensia on the summit of Long's Peak.
The Rocky Mountain Wonderland|Enos A. Mills

On the beach at Reykjavik Mertensia maritima is a fairly common plant.
Across Iceland|William Bisiker