mertensia

[ mer-ten-see-uh, -shee-uh, -shuh ]

noun

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Mertensia, of the borage family, including the lungworts and the Virginia cowslip.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mertensia¹

< New Latin (1797), after Franz Karl Mertens (died 1831), German botanist; -ia

Example Sentences

The blue mertensia crowds moist places with a thicket of stalks three feet high.

From Project Gutenberg

About the middle of the month the Virginian Cowslip (Mertensia virginica) begins to turn yellow before dying down.

From Project Gutenberg

Occasionally one took a mouthful of grass or a bite of blue mertensia.

From Project Gutenberg

I have found primroses, phlox, and mertensia on the summit of Long's Peak.

From Project Gutenberg

On the beach at Reykjavik Mertensia maritima is a fairly common plant.

From Project Gutenberg