lady's-tresses

[ ley-deez-tres-iz ]

noun

, (used with a singular or plural verb)

, plural la·dy's-tress·es.

1. any orchid of the genus Spiranthes, having spikes of small flowers.

lady's-tresses

noun

1. functioning as singular or plural any of various orchids of the genera Spiranthes or Goodyera , having spikes of small white fragrant flowers

Word History and Origins

Origin of lady's-tresses¹

First recorded in 1540–50

Example Sentences

Autumn lady's-tresses, the latest flowering UK orchid species, also had a very good year thanks to the cold wet May.

From BBC

Among the green bogs the fragrant lady’s-tresses wear the white timidity of April, and the three petals of the enameled arrowhead flower are dusty with gold.

From Project Gutenberg

Front View The Tongue of a Bumblebee In the allied Spiranthes, or "Lady's-Tresses," a somewhat similar mechanism prevails, by which fertilization is largely effected by the changed position or angle of the stigma plane.

From Project Gutenberg

It was in one of the quiet corners of the green valley called Peacefield, where the little brook of Brighthopes runs smoothly down to join the River of Life, that I saw a company of angels, returned from various labours on Earth, sitting in friendly converse on the hill-side, where cyclamens and arbutus and violets and fringed orchids and pale lady's-tresses, and all the sweet-smelling flowers which are separated in the lower world by the seasons, were thrown together in a harmony of fragrance.

From Project Gutenberg

Returning to the open park in front of Cranbury, there occurs that fitfully blooming plant, lady’s-tresses - Neottia Spiralis autumnalis - and a profusion of brown-winged orchis and cowslips. 

From Project Gutenberg