hydrangea
/hʌɪˈdreɪn(d)ʒə
/noun
A shrub or climbing plant with rounded or flattened flowering heads of small florets, native to Asia and America.
- Genus Hydrangea, family Hydrangeaceae: many species, in particular the common hydrangea (H. macrophylla), with flowers that are typically blue, but often pink on alkaline soils.
- A climbing hydrangea, honeysuckle and cotoneaster behaved in similar fashion until their third year, when they all finally took off.
- With the shortage of good all-summer plants, hydrangeas deserve a spot in everyone's garden.
Origin
Modern Latin, from Greek hudro- 'water' + angeion 'vessel' (from the cup shape of its seed capsule).