thrum-eyed

adjective

1. (of flowers, esp primulas) having the stigma on a short style below the anthers, which lie in the mouth of the corolla on big stamens Compare pin-eyed

Word History and Origins

Origin of thrum-eyed¹

C19: from thrum ², because of the ring of anthers visible at the neck of the corolla

Example Sentences

It had long been known, to take a single example, that primroses existed in two forms, the pin-eyed and the thrum-eyed, of which the former has the pin-like summit of the pistil at the top of the tube, and the stamens concealed half way down its throat; while in the latter these relative positions are exactly reversed, the stamens answering in place to the pistil of the alternative form with geometrical accuracy.

From Project Gutenberg

Like the common primrose, the primula exhibits both pin-eyed and thrum-eyed varieties.

From Project Gutenberg

I can only refer very shortly to the botanical interest of the Primula, and that only to direct attention to Mr. Darwin's paper in the "Journal of the Linnæan Society," 1862, in which he records his very curious and painstaking inquiries into the dimorphism of the Primula, a peculiarity in the Primula that gardeners had long recognized in their arrangement of Primroses as "pin-eyed" and "thrum-eyed."

From Project Gutenberg

They have been long known to children and gardeners, who call them thrum-eyed and pin-eyed.

From Project Gutenberg

Botanically the Primrose has two varieties of floral structure: one "pin-eyed," with a tall pistil, and short stamens; the other "thrum-eyed," showing a rosette of tall stamens, whilst the short pistil must be looked for, like the great Panjandrum himself, "with a little round button at the top," half way down the tube.

From Project Gutenberg