moonflower

English

Etymology

From moon +‎ flower.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmuːnflaʊə/

Noun

moonflower (plural moonflowers)

1. Any of several plants that flower at night:
   1. (obsolete) The ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare [18th–19th c.]
   2. The corn marigold, Glebionis segetum.
   3. Any of several vines of the genus Ipomoea, especially Ipomoea alba. [from 19th c.]
      • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 46:

        Hôtel Saint-George […] through whose exotic gardens of giant contorted euphorbia and sweet-smelling moonflowers Churchill and the titans of the Second World War strolled, laying plans for a world in which Anglo-Saxon predominance seemed assured in perpetuity.

   4. Species in genus Cereus and in Hylocereus.
   5. Species of Datura, including Datura inoxia.
   6. Species of Mentzelia, including Mentzelia pumila.

Derived terms

• beach moonflower
• sea moonflower

Translations

Ipomoea alba

• Dutch: maanbloem f
• Esperanto: blanka ipomeo
• French: fleur de lune f
• Japanese: 夜顔 (yorugao)

See also

• morning glory
• sunflower

Anagrams

• floorwomen