dusty miller

noun

1. Botany.
   1. any of several composite plants, as Centaurea cineraria, Senecio cineraria, or the beach wormwood, having pinnate leaves covered with whitish pubescence.
   2. rose campion.
2. Angling. a type of artificial fly used chiefly for trout and salmon.

dusty miller

noun

1. Also calledsnow-in-summer a caryophyllaceous plant, Cerastium tomentosum, of SE Europe and Asia, having white flowers and downy stems and leaves: cultivated as a rock plant
2. a plant, Artemisia stelleriana, of NE Asia and E North America, having small yellow flower heads and downy stems and leaves: family Asteraceae (composites)
3. any of various other downy plants, such as the rose campion

Word History and Origins

Origin of dusty miller¹

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Lucy and I had both a fight for it with the dusty miller; I know it was a hard fight on my part, and I am quite heroic.

From Literature

Their woodlands theme box uses bleeding heart, hosta and columbine; an indoor “jungle box” includes monstera and elephant’s ear; and a “Southern belle” box mixes foxglove, snapdragon, sweet potato vines and dusty miller.

From Washington Times

Here, they can wander among scarecrows and jack-o’-lanterns, investigate a Victorian playhouse, pot up a ghostly-looking dusty miller plant to take home and put on a show with insect and owl puppets.

From New York Times

In October, they were replaced with 5,300 violas in three varieties and 500 silver-leafed dusty miller plants, all underplanted with 4,200 bulbs — a pink fringed tulip and two varieties of hyacinth.

From Washington Post

Or try a shade pot with vivid white or red cyclamen in the center, surrounded by dusty miller and the dainty-flowered lamium.

From Los Angeles Times