alyssum
1
8.9
- noun
- /əˈlɪsəm/
- I smelled a blend of summer alyssum and rich black earth, like the sweet aroma of life and death.
- sweet alyssum
- white alyssum
- annuals like alyssum
Examples
-
At her feet were tiny alyssum blooms and English thyme used as ground cover that exuded the sweet smell of a kitchen when she walked over it.
Fiction book (1993) -
We've got some annual alyssum that we'll be pulling up.
-
The purple and orange white knight alyssum, purple fountain grass.
-
They turned up a flagstone walk bordered with sweet alyssum.
Fiction book (1995) -
I grow alyssum in my garden because its small yellow flowers are so beautiful.
-
The sweet alyssum blooms attract bees and butterflies to my flower beds.
-
Planting alyssum near roses enhances the garden's fragrance with its lovely scent.
Synonyms
A small garden plant with clusters of yellow or white flowers
Compounds
- Specialized
A small European plant with grey green fuzzy leaves, many small white flowers, often a weed
Surface Forms
Etymology
Alyssum comes from the Greek parts a- 'not' and lyssa 'madness' because people once used the plant to treat rabies and thought it stopped 'madness'. That's why the name hints at a cure, and today alyssum is the small, sweet-scented garden flower we plant for borders.