calico flower

noun

1. a Brazilian woody vine, Aristolochia elegans, of the birthwort family, having large, solitary, white-spotted, purple flowers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of calico flower¹

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805

Example Sentences

The monumental blossom in O’Keeffe’s “White Calico Flower” of 1931 seems about to burst from its frame, while a wall of four of Hartley’s late landscapes, with their robust surfaces and poetic undercurrents, is one of the show’s high points.

From New York Times