Crossword clues for nasturtium
nasturtium
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Nasturtium \Nas*tur"tium\, n. [L. nasturtium, for nasitortium, fr. nasus nose + torquere, tortum, to twist, torture, in allusion to the causing one to make a wry face by its pungent taste. See Nose of the face, and Torture.]
(Bot.) A genus of cruciferous plants, having white or yellowish flowers, including several species of cress. They are found chiefly in wet or damp grounds, and have a pungent biting taste.
(Bot.) Any plant of the genus Trop[ae]olum, geraniaceous herbs, having mostly climbing stems, peltate leaves, and spurred flowers, and including the common Indian cress ( Trop[ae]olum majus), the canary-bird flower ( Trop[ae]olum peregrinum), and about thirty more species, all natives of South America. The whole plant has a warm pungent flavor, and the fleshy fruits are used as a substitute for capers, while the leaves and flowers are sometimes used in salads.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-12c., "plant of the mustard family, like watercress," from Latin nasturtium "cress;" the popular etymology explanation of the name (Pliny) is that it is from Latin *nasitortium, literally "nose-twist," from nasus "nose" (see nose (n.)) + past participle of torquere "to twist" (see torque (n.)); the plant so called for its pungent odor. Modern application to a South American trailing plant with orange flowers first recorded 1704.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The popular name of the ''Tropaeolum'' genus of flowering plants native to south and central America. 2 A genus, ''Nasturtium'', that includes watercress.
WordNet
n. any tropical American plant of the genus Tropaeolum having pungent juice and long-spurred yellow to red flowers
aquatic herbs [syn: genus Nasturtium]
flowers and seeds and leaves all used as flavorings
Wikipedia
Nasturtium is a genus of seven plant species in the family Brassicaceae (cabbage family), best known for the edible watercresses Nasturtium microphyllum (Rorippa microphylla) and Nasturtium officinale (R. nasturtium-aquaticum). Nasturtium was previously synonymised with Rorippa, but molecular evidence supports its maintenance as a distinct genus more closely related to Cardamine than to Rorippa sensu stricto (Al-Shehbaz & Price, 1998; Al-Shehbaz, Beilstein & Kellogg, 2006). Yellowcress is a common name for plants in this genus.
These plants are related to garden cress and mustard, noteworthy for a peppery, tangy (pungent) flavor. The name Nasturtium comes from the Latin nasus tortus, meaning "twisted nose", in reference to the effect on the nasal passages of eating the plants. Nasturtium foliage is used as food by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, including Orthonama obstipata (The Gem).
One species, Nasturtium gambelii, is a federally listed endangered species in the United States.
Nasturtium may refer to:
- Tropaeolum, a plant genus in the family Tropaeolaceae, commonly known as nasturtium
- Nasturtium (genus), a plant genus in the family Brassicaceae, which includes watercress
- Nasturtiums (E. Phillips Fox) a painting by E. Phillips Fox
Nasturtium (1899–1916) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was the top two-year-old colt of 1901. He was a contender for the 1902 Epsom Derby, but did not run in the race due to illness.
Usage examples of "nasturtium".
They also favour certain plants for living quarters, among them agapanthus, lilies, irises, ice plants, ivy, nasturtiums, jasmine and strawberries.
And for the autumn, at the back of her border, there were orange and yellow chrysanths, but a totally different orange and yellow from the nasturtiums, much deeper, much more autumny, and also tall rain-smelling Michaelmas daisies.
The urns atop the balustrades had been planted up with stocks, nasturtiums, geraniums and variegated hedera that trailed profusely.
Brassica, and Zea, and Maranta, and Capsicum, a fiery fellow, and Nasturtium, crowned with bright orange-flowers, and a great many others.
The portulacas grow around the border, then come the nasturtiums, and finally the taller geraniums in the centre.
Flowers include nasturtiums, marigolds, petunias, geraniums, and chrysanthemums.
The walls were papered in a pattern of faded nasturtiums, the woodwork grained to look like walnut.
Nevertheless I have never been able to be inhospitable and, it being later in the year, at least there was more produce available from my garden, so in the end I decided upon courgette fritters with mayonnaise dip, eggs Florentine, Spanish omelette, kedgeree, broad bean dip, nasturtium salad and roast tomatoes with garlic.
The leaves, most of which grow directly from the rootstock, are in shape some what like those of the garden Nasturtium, being circular, their stalks, 2 to 6 inches long, springing from about the centre of their undersurfaces, an arrangement that is termed botanically peltate.
The village of Our Lady was before them, houses brown with weathering and green with rose vines, picket fences burning with a soft fire of nasturtiums.
After the braised fennel amandine and the tossed salad with nasturtium seeds, and the chestnut puree in meringue nests, and the demitasse, Qwilleran reached in his pocket for his pipe and drew forth the turquoise beetle that Koko had found near the waterfront.