any plant of the evergreen Mediterranean genus Santolina, esp S. chamaecyparissus, grown for its silvery-grey felted foliage: family Asteraceae (composites)
Word origin
New Latin, altered from santonica
santolina in American English
(ˌsæntəˈlinə)
noun
any of a genus (Santolina) of Old World shrubs of the composite family; esp., a small, bushy, evergreen shrub (S. chamaecyparissus) with silvery gray, woolly, aromatic leaves and long-stalked, yellow flower heads, used in gardens and as a ground cover