barometer bush

noun

: a compact evergreen shrub (Leucophyllum frutescens of the family Scrophulariaceae) native to Texas and adjacent northern Mexico that has grayish-green hairy leaves and solitary, bell-shaped, usually pink or purple flowers

Hope bloomed on those hardy plants, known to old-timers as barometer bushes because showers trigger their flowers.

—Tracy Hobson Lehmann, San Antonio Express-News, 9 July 2011

called also cenizo, Texas sage

Word History

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined above

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