Saint Thomas tree
noun
Saint Thom·as tree
-ˈtäməs-
: a tropical Asiatic and African shrub (Bauhinia tomentosa) with tomentose to glabrate branchlets, lower leaf surfaces, and pods and yellow flowers with a red or brownish blotch that is grown as an ornamental and found as an escape in the West Indies
Word History
Etymology
after St. Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples; from the tradition that the red spots on the flowers were caused by drops of Thomas' blood falling on such a shrub when he was martyred in India