any of several tropical plants of the genus Sinningia, esp the South American S. speciosa, cultivated for its large white, red, or purple bell-shaped flowers: family Gesneriaceae
Word origin
C19: named after Benjamin P. Gloxin, 18th-century German physician and botanist who first described it
gloxinia in American English
(glɑkˈsɪniə)
noun
a cultivated tropical plant (Sinningia speciosa) of the gesneria family, with large, downy leaves and bell-shaped flowers of various colors
Word origin
ModL, after B. P. Gloxin, 18th-c. Ger botanist
Examples of 'gloxinia' in a sentence
gloxinia
Where stacks of books had stood on the floor and windowsills, now there were pots of gloxinia and African violets.