blushing bride, noun phrase

Forms:
Also with initial capitals.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Unknown; perhaps influenced by the Afrikaans name skaamblom, skaam shy + blom flower; see quotation 1977.
The shrub Serruria florida of the Proteaceae; its drooping, pale pink flowers. Also attributive.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 13Blushing bride, Serruria florida. One of the..rarest flowers of S.A., known only from one of the valleys of the upper Bergriver (Franschhoek). Flowering in winter.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 74To the delight of botanists..the ‘Blushing Bride’ has reappeared in the Kloof fairly recently...The delicate shrub has pink flowers, the colour of a blush. According to Franschhoek custom, a man takes off his hat when he encounters the ‘Blushing Bride’.
1955 K.A. Thompson Great House 213The small, frail looking pink protea called the Blushing Bride..was supposed to be extinct when he found it flowering in a tiny kloof in the Fransch Hoek Mountains.
1973 Argus 30 June 1The bride..carried blushing bride proteas and orchids.
1977 S. Afr. Panorama May 31The ‘blushing bride’..bears the name of Serruria florida after the Dutch botanist, J. Serrurier. The story goes that young Franschhoek farmers used to wear a ‘blushing bride’ as a buttonhole when they went courting, and the deeper pink, the more serious their intentions.
1987 T.F.J. Van Rensburg Intro. to Fynbos 43Many fynbos species, such as..the blushing bride..are completely dependent on fire for regeneration.
1990 Weekend Post 17 Feb. (Leisure) 7Blushing brides are difficult to grow under ordinary garden conditions.
1992 [see marsh rose].
The shrub Serruria florida of the Proteaceae; its drooping, pale pink flowers. Also attributive.
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19171990