Illinois bundleflower

noun

: an erect, perennial North American herb (Desmanthus illinoensis) with globular heads of small whitish flowers and dense clusters of flat, crescent-shaped, brown pods

They began by taking wild prairie species, such as a legume known as Illinois bundleflower, and trying to make them more like domestic crops, with large, abundant seeds that remain on the plant until harvested.

—Craig Canine, Smithsonian, November 2005

called also prairie mimosa

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

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