any Asian plant of the liliaceous genus Aspidistra, esp A. lurida, a popular house plant with long tough evergreen leaves and purplish flowers borne on the ground
Word origin
C19: from New Latin, from Greek aspis shield, on the model of Tupistra genus of liliaceous plants
aspidistra in American English
(ˌæspɪˈdɪstrə)
noun
any of a genus (Aspidistra) of plants of the lily family, with dark, inconspicuous flowers and stiff, glossy, evergreen leaves: cultivated as a house plant
Word origin
ModL < Gr aspis, a shield + astron, a star: see astral