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old-man cactus

[ ohld-man ]

noun

  1. a Mexican cactus, Cephalocereus senilis, having a columnar body from 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) high with thatchlike, long, white hairs on the top, and red flowers with white centers.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of old-man cactus1

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
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Example Sentences

Cephalocereus senilis, known as old-man cactus for its long, downy white spines, can be seen in a photograph of Kahlo in her garden taken in 1951 by the French photojournalist Gisèle Freund.

To this character, the plant owes it name Old-Man Cactus; but, by a curious inversion of what obtains in the human kind, old plants are less conspicuous by their white hairs than the younger ones.

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old-man-and-womanOld Man of the Sea