shortian.
/ˈʃɔːtɪə/ A small stemless evergreen herb of the genus so called, belonging to the family Diapensiaceæ, native to eastern North America and temperate parts of Asia, and bearing glossy leaves and white, pink, or blue flowers. Shortia galacifolia was first described by Asa Gray from a dried specimen seen in Paris in 1839, which had been collected by André Michaux in 1798. The plant was not rediscovered in the wild until 1878.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Diapensiaceae > [noun] > shortia or galax
galax1770
shortia1877
Oconee bells1923
1839 A. Gray Jrnl. 8 Apr. in Lett. A. Gray (1893) I. iii. 178 As this is a good North American genus and comes from near Kentucky, it shall be christened Shortia, to which we will stand as godfathers.]
1877 Field & Forest Sept. 40 More than once I was greeted with the query ‘Found “Shortey” yet?’ By which I suppose was meant the mythical Shortia of Michaux, for which any enthusiastic young or old botanist is at liberty to hunt.
1948 Hyde Park Shopper (Chicago) 29 Apr. 8/5 The rare flower, shortia, is found only in the mountains of North Carolina and Japan.
1962 Times 8 Dec. 11/3 The shortias, too, do well in a moist..position.
1974 Country Life 12 Dec. 1896/1 American woodlanders, such as shortias, schizocodons,..and erythroniums especially revel in it [sc. beech leaf-mould].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
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n.1877