What is "pyracanth"

Pyracanth \Pyr"a*canth\, n. [Gr. ? fire + ? a thorn, prickly plant.] (Bot.) The evergreen thorn ( Crat[ae]gus Pyracantha), a shrub native of Europe.

thorny shrub of the apple family, 1660s, from Modern Latin genus name Pyracantha, from Greek pyrakantha (Dioscorides), a plant named but not described, from pyr- "fire" (see fire (n.)) + akantha "thorn, thorny plant," from PIE root *ak- "sharp, pointed" (see acrid).

n. Any of various thorny shrubs of the genus ''Pyracantha'' having small white flowers followed by hard red or orange-red berries

n. any of various thorny shrubs of the genus Pyracantha bearing small white flowers followed by hard red or orange-red berries [syn: Pyracantha, fire thorn, firethorn]