wallflower
(ˈwɔːlflaʊə(r))
[f. wall n.1 Cf. G. mauerblume.]
1. a. A plant of the genus Cheiranthus (N.O. Cruciferæ), esp. C. Cheiri, growing wild on old walls, on rocks, in quarries, etc., and cultivated in gardens for its fragrant flowers (normally yellow or orange, though other colours are produced by cultivation). Also called gilliflower.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. iii. 150 In English Yellow Gillofers, Wall floures..in French Violes iaunes,..in high Douche Geel veiel. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cxiii. 370 The stalkes of the Wall flower are full of greene branches. 1615 W. Lawson New Orchard (1623) 12 Dry wall of earth..whereon at Mighill-tide it will be good to sow Wall-flowers. 1650 T. Bayly Herba Parietis Ded. 1 The Wall-flower hath been called (as the most sacred Compellation) by the Herbalists, Dames-Violets, Damasen or Matron-Violets, or Queenes Gillyflowers. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Insects i. xv. 93 Double..Wall-flowers. 1707–21 Mortimer Husb. (ed. 5) II. 245 Wall Flowers are of several sorts, as the common Ones, the great single Ones, the great double Ones, the single White, the double White, the double Red, and the pale Yellow. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 532 The yellow wall⁓flower, stain'd with iron brown. 1779 Sheridan Critic ii. ii, The vulgar wallflower, and smart gillyflower. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. i, The wall-flower waves not on the ruin'd hold. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. cvii, Cypress and ivy, weed and wall-flower grown Matted and mass'd together. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xl, There is a double-wallflower at No. 6 in the court, is there? 1856 Delamer Fl. Gard. (1861) 158 Wall⁓flower..The single varieties, which are the most odoriferous, are raised from seed. There are yellow, brown, and purple Double Wallflowers, propagated by cuttings. 1858 Glenny Everyday Bk. 266/1 Wallflowers and Sweetwilliams may be planted out in beds. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 83 There were lavender and a few homely stocks and wallflowers growing in the poor soil about the fences of the houses. |
b. German wallflower.
| 1882 Garden 25 Feb. 135/1 Double German Wallflowers.. are now useful pot plants. |
c. Applied to plants of other genera. native wallflower, the Tasmanian plant Pultenæa subumbrosa (N.O. Leguminosæ); also, in Australia, one of the Poison-bushes, Gastrolobium grandiflorum (Morris Austral Engl., 1898). western wallflower, a name for certain American species of Erysimum (Treas. Bot., 1866; Cent. Dict., 1891).
d. A perfume derived from the flowers of this plant.
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 521/1 Perfumes... Verbena. Wallflower. White Carnation. c 1938 Fortnum & Mason Price List 55/2 Wallflower..Wild Rose..Assorted Bath Ovals. 1972 [see mignonette 1 d]. |
2. slang. (See quots.) ? Obs.
| 1804 Sporting Mag. XXIII. 220 A coat suspended on a peg in Monmouth-street is called a wall flower. 1848 Sinks of Lond. 129 Wall flowers, old clothes exposed for sale. |
3. colloq. A lady who keeps her seat at the side of a room during dancing, whether because she cannot find a partner or by her own choice.
| 1820 Praed County Ball 148 The maiden wall-flowers of the room. 1840 New Monthly Mag. LIX. 340 He..dances quadrilles with every wall-flower in the room. 1881 H. James Portr. Lady xliii, ‘Are you not dancing?’ ‘As you see, I'm a wall-flower.’ 1888 F. Hume Mme. Midas ii. ix, She has not your capability at playing wallflower. |
4. attrib. in designations of colour, as wallflower brown, wallflower red; also separately as a colour-name. Also Comb. wallflower-leaved adj.
| 1786 Abercrombie Gard. Assist. Arrangem. 19 Hardy Annuals... Stock gilliflower,..White wallflower leaved. 1883 Daily News 17 May 6/1 Lined with silk..in some decided colour, such as old gold, wallflower red, French grey, or pale blue. Ibid. 22 Sept. 3/3 A wide bias band of wallflower velvet. 1913 Daily Graphic 24 Mar. 13/1 The most notable colours in the crowd included the following:..Wallflower and café au lait browns. |