Jupiter's beard
nounEtymology Calque of Latin barba Iovis.
› A common name for various plants:
1
The red valerian, Centranthus ruber
2
Obsolete Aster linosyris, a European plant with yellow flowers.
3
The silverbush, Anthyllis barba-jovis, a European shrub with silvery leaves.
4
The common houseleek, Sempervivum tectorum.
- 1658: Thus […] nature […] somewhat after this manner hath ordered the bush in Jupiters beard, or houseleek; which old superstition set on the tops of houses, as a defensative against lightening, and thunder. — Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus (Folio Society 2007, p. 181)
5
A white-edged fungus, Hyphodontia barba-jovis.