ˈcorn-flag
[See flag.]
A plant of the genus Gladiolus or Sword-lily, family Iridaceæ, species of which are cultivated as garden flowers.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xxxviii. 196 Corne flagge or Gladioll. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxvi. 105 French corne flagge hath small stiffe leaves. 1629 Parkinson Paradisi in Sole xxi. 189 Next unto the Flagges or Flowerdeluces, come the Gladioli or Corne Flagges. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 71/1 The Indian Corn-flag hath the flowers growing on both sides the stalk, and are of a sad red. 1841–4 Emerson Ess. Ser. i. xi. 263 You shall still see..the tasselled grass, or the corn-flags. 1861 Delamer Fl. Gard. 27 Corn Flag.—The wild European species, G. communis, is perfectly hardy in England. |