Scythian lamb

noun

1. a fern, Cibotium barometz, of southeastern Asia, having stalks covered with shaggy, brownish hair and large, feathery leaves, formerly believed to be a source of vegetable wool.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Scythian lamb¹

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

Lee connected the myth of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary to the Indian cotton-pod, pointing to yet another moniker, ‘the Scythian Lamb’.

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Barometz, bar′o-metz, n. the hairy prostrate stem of a fern found near the Caspian Sea, at one time supposed to be at once plant and animal, to grow on a stalk, and to eat grass like a lamb, &c.; hence also called, as by Mandeville, the Scythian Lamb.

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The creature was also known as the Scythian Lamb and the Borametz or Barometz, a name derived from a Tartar word signifying “lamb.”

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