barometz
(ˈbærəmɛts)
[App. an erroneous adaptation of Russ. baranets (dimin. of baran ram') applied to species of Club-moss, Lycopodium.]
A spurious natural-history specimen, consisting of the creeping root-stock and frond-stalks of a woolly fern (Cibotium barometz) turned upside down; formerly represented as a creature half-animal and half-plant, and called the Scythian Lamb (already referred to by Maundevile, ch. xxvi. p. 264).
| 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. 279 Waves, gentle Barometz, thy golden hair. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 485/2. |