calathian, a.
(kəˈleɪθɪən)
[ad. L. calathiāna, otherwise, perh. correctly, calatina (viola).]
In Calathian Violet, a name transferred from Pliny, identified with a gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe).
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xxi, Of Autumne Belfloures, or Calathian Violets..Cordus calleth them Pneumonanthe: and truly it seemeth to be a certayne kinde of Gentian. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 85 Some smell not at all, to wit, the Calathian Violet with the small leafe. c 1806 R. Surtees Poem in Taylor Life (1852) 301 Our autumn fields are with pale gentian set, And the calathian glowing violet. |