galaxn.
/ˈɡalaks/, U.S. /ˈɡæˌlæks/ A plant of or formerly included in the genus Galax (now of the family Diapensiaceae); spec. G. urceolata (formerly G. aphylla), now the only member of the genus, a low-growing, evergreen herbaceous plant native to the south-eastern United States, having shiny, heart-shaped leaves much used in floristry, and racemes of small white flowers. Also (in form Galax): the genus itself.Valid publication of the genus name: J. Sims 1804, in Curtis's Bot. Mag. 20 754 (see quot. 1804).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Diapensiaceae > [noun] > shortia or galax
galax1770
shortia1877
Oconee bells1923
1770 C. Milne Bot. Dict. at Perianthium Of ten [leaves], as in galax.
1804 Curtis's Bot. Mag. 20 754 (heading) Galax Aphylla. Carolina Galax... Michaux found it on the high mountains of Carolina, flowering in May.
1881 W. Falconer in W. Robinson Wild Garden (ed. 2) viii. 59 The sombre-hued Pyrola and Galax.
1922 M. B. Houston Witch Man xi The darkly polished galax leaves.
1959 C. Dormon Flowers Native to Deep South 88 Everyone has seen the shining, stiff leaves of Galax in florists' wreaths and bouquets.
1997 C. Frazier Cold Mountain (2000) 337 They left the rock and hunted on, going netherward into a damp swale rich with the odor of places where galax grows.
2002 Systematic Bot. 27 383/1 Most authors have..considered Galax as isolated, and Diapensia and Pyxidanthera as closely related.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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