lavender cotton

noun

a silvery-gray, evergreen, woody composite plant, Santolina chamaecyparissus, of southern Europe, having yellow flower heads.

First recorded in 1520–30

Now she lay across the bed, in crumpled lavender cotton and shabby pumps, very feminine, utterly cowed.

Lavender cotton is a species of the genus Santolina, small, yellow-flowered, evergreen undershrubs of the Composite order.

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