umbrella plant

1. an African plant, Cyperus alternifolius, of the sedge family, that has several stems growing directly upward from a mass of roots and an umbrella-shaped cluster of leaves at the top of each stem.

2. North Midland U.S. the May apple plant.

3. Also called wild buckwheat. any of various plants belonging to the genus Eriogonum, of the buckwheat family, native to the western U.S. and Mexico, having rounded heads or umbels of white, yellow, or red flowers.

[1870-75]

* * *

▪ plant

      any of several unrelated but similarly leaved plants. Cyperus alternifolius (family Cyperaceae), also called umbrella palm and umbrella sedge, is widely cultivated in water gardens and as a potted plant. It grows up to 1 m (3 feet) high. Native to Madagascar, Réunion, and Mauritius, it is widely naturalized in the tropics and subtropics.

      Eriogonum alenii, native to the western United States, is a white woolly member of the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae). It grows to 50 cm (20 inches). Another umbrella plant, in the family Saxifragaceae, is Peltiphyllum peltatum; its leaves are about 25 cm (10 inches) across, with 10–15 lobes. It grows well in wet places, reaching about 2 m (6 feet) in height.

* * *