oakleaf hydrangea

English

The flower and leaves of oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)
oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

Etymology

Partial calque of taxonomic name Hydrangea quercifolia. The specific epithet quercifolia comes from Latin quercus (“oak”) + Latin folia (“leaf”), referring to the leaves' similarity in shape to those of oak trees, which belong to the unrelated genus Quercus.

Noun

oakleaf hydrangea (plural oakleaf hydrangeas)

  1. A type of deciduous shrub native to the southeastern United States, often cultivated as an ornamental plant, of species Hydrangea quercifolia.
    • 2007 August 30, Anne Raver, “Vistas and Close-Ups, Staged by a Filmmaker”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 March 2025:
      There were callicarpas full of pale lavender berries, which would turn purple in the fall; viburnums and shrub dogwoods; and lacy elderberries juxtaposed against dense evergreens or the large, floppy leaves of an oakleaf hydrangea.

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