pea-flowern.
/ˈpiːˌflaʊə/, U.S. /ˈpiˌflaʊər/ 1. The flower of the pea, Pisum sativum; any papilionaceous flower resembling this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pea flowers
everlasting pea1599
sweet-scented pea1728
sweet pea1732
painted lady pea1760
pea-flower1824
pride of California1895
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > pea > pea-plant > blossom
pease bloom1657
pea bloom1714
pea blossoma1746
pea-flower1824
1824 J. C. Loudon Green-house Compan. i. 88 Lotus jacobæus,..A..pea-flower, on a delicate winged-leaved plant.
1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 344 The Pea-flower is irregular both in form and size.
1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (U.K. ed.) i. 20 In the innocent phase of spring there had bloomed an astragalus, very like a lupine, but straggling, crazy, clouded, its pea flowers sickly pink.
1977 M. Allan Darwin & his Flowers iv. 78 He found six adesmias-shrubs with pea-flowers.
1995 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Nov. 672/1 Indigofera pendula..[a] curious and attractive shrub, with its pinnate leaves and drooping racemes of pea-flowers, could be mistaken for a hybrid between a Wisteria and an Indigofera.
2. Any of several tropical plants of the family Fabaceae ( Leguminosae) having large papilionaceous flowers; esp. Poitea (Vilmorinia) multiflora and members of the genera Centrosema and Clitoria.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun]
legumen1676
pea-flower1866
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 854/2 Pea-flower, a West Indian name for Centrosema and Clitoria.
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Pea-flower, Vilmorin's Purple, Vilmorinia multiflora.
1997 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 5 July (Gardening section) 10 The proper botanical name of the Blue Pea flower is Clitoria ternatea.
Derivatives
ˈpea-flowered adj. having papilionaceous flowers like those of the pea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [adjective] > of types of pulses or plants
rouncival1570
phaseolous1681
black-eyed1683
long-pod1771
pea-flowered1853
1853 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (ed. 3) 1248/2 The tillage plants of Britain and of analogous climates are chiefly the bread corn; leguminous or pea-flowered plants, such as the bean, pea, [etc.].
1962 R. Page Educ. of Gardener xi. 305 The violet pea-flowered kerredya from Australia tumbles over the rock-work.
1994 Sunday Times 6 Mar. (Style & Travel section) viii. 22/1 Yellow pea flowered cassias or vibrant purple tibuchinas..which make many gardens look like the jungly paintings of Rousseau.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1824