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billbergia

 - 2 dictionary results

bill⋅ber⋅gi⋅a

[bil-bur-jee-uh, -juh]
–noun
any bromeliad of the tropical American genus Billbergia, having stiff leaves and flowers with showy, variously colored bracts.

Origin:
1821; < NL, named after Gustaf Johan Billberg (1772–1844), Swedish botanist; see -ia
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Encyclopedia

billbergia

any member of a genus (Billbergia) of evergreen epiphytes of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), containing more than 50 South American species. Several species are grown indoors as decorative plants for their colourful foliage, flowers, or bracts (leaflike clusters beneath the flowers). The stiff, spiny, often strap-shaped leaves grow in a rosette, sometimes up to 90 cm (35 inches) in diameter, directly from the root. The flowers are on a spike or panicle (loose cluster) growing from the centre of the rosette.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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