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ageratum Bot. and Herb.
(əˈdʒərətəm, pop. ædʒəˈreɪtəm)
[mod.L. agēratum, ad. (by Linnæus) cl. L. agēraton, a. Gr. ἀγήρᾰτον name of a plant in Dioscorides and Pliny, prop. neuter of ἀγήρατος not growing old, f. ἀ priv. + γῆρας, -ατος old age. Formerly also in the Gr. form.]
†1. Herb. Some kind of ‘everlasting’ flower, known to the ancients. Obs.
1567J. Maplet Greene Forest 31 Ageraton..is like Origan or Marigolde. 1601Holland Pliny (1634) II. 271 Ageraton, it is an herb of the Ferula kind..the flowers resemble buttons or brooches of gold. 1706Phillips, Ageraton, an Herb call'd Everlasting; Mothwort, Cotton-weed, or Maudlin. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Ageratum bears a near resemblance to the costmary. 1879Syd. Soc. Lex., Ageraton..was probably the Achillea ageratum.
2. A genus of plants (family Compositæ, Div. Eupatoriæ), of which one species (A. Mexicanum), with lavender-blue flowers in dense clustered capitules, is a favourite garden annual.
1866W. Thompson in Treas. Bot. 30 The Cœlestina ageratoides, a half-hardy perennial with blue ageratum-like flowerheads, much employed in bedding, must not be confounded with the true Ageratums. |