hopsage

noun

: any of certain low shrubs of alkaline regions of western North America that constitute the genus Grayia of the family Chenopodiaceae and are locally important native browse plants

especially : an erect much-branched shrub (G. spinosa) having the flowers in dense terminal spikes, the fruiting bracts broadly rounded and often tinged with red, and forming a cluster resembling the strobilus of a hopvine

Word History

Etymology

hop entry 3 + sage

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