SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

barometer bush

noun

Definition of barometer bush

: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

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First Known Use of barometer bush

1957

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