Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several vines of the genus Ipomoea having trumpet-shaped flowers that open at night.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The oxeye daisy, Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum.
  • noun A tropical night-blooming species of Ipomæa, with large fragrant white flowers, or

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The oxeye daisy; -- called also moon daisy.
  • noun A kind of morning glory (Ipomœa Bona-nox) with large white flowers opening at night.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several unrelated vines which bloom at night

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun pantropical climber having white fragrant nocturnal flowers

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word moonflower.

Examples

  • Abuse of the poisonous datura, a form of jimson weed also known as moonflower, has been on the rise since September, particularly in West Ada County, Ada County sheriff's Detective Ryan Pacheco said during a press conference Thursday.

    IdahoStatesman.com News Updates 2008

  • The moonflower Fancy had taken from her backyard and planted in the happy place after Gabriel had attacked her had grown into a tree with yummy-smelling fruit in the shape of tiny white crescents.

    Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011

  • The moonflower Fancy had taken from her backyard and planted in the happy place after Gabriel had attacked her had grown into a tree with yummy-smelling fruit in the shape of tiny white crescents.

    Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011

  • The moonflower Fancy had taken from her backyard and planted in the happy place after Gabriel had attacked her had grown into a tree with yummy-smelling fruit in the shape of tiny white crescents.

    Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011

  • The moonflower Fancy had taken from her backyard and planted in the happy place after Gabriel had attacked her had grown into a tree with yummy-smelling fruit in the shape of tiny white crescents.

    Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011

  • But I do not dig graves, only cradles, for wolfsbane and moonflower, evening primrose and columbine.

    Wolves and Butterflies Linda Simoni-Wastila 2010

  • Add a delightful fragrance to perfume warm summer nights, and there you have the moonflower!

    Did You Know? Bouncing balls and Mexican ingenuity 2008

  • Ipomoea alba, the tropical white-flowering morning glory (moonflower or moon vine) is a perennial in its natural habitat.

    Did You Know? Bouncing balls and Mexican ingenuity 2008

  • Ipomoea alba, the tropical white-flowering morning glory (moonflower or moon vine) is a perennial in its natural habitat.

    Did You Know? Bouncing balls and Mexican ingenuity 2008

  • There are some flowers I am sentimental about — the moonflower, for one, because its fragrance reminds me ofsummer evenings and fireflies.

    Out with the old, in with the pansies « Sugar Creek Gardens’ Blog 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Against this wall, there was a trellis of moonflowers, which popped open like small white parachutes at twilight in the summertime, and between the trellis and the stoop you could pull up water from a cistern in the veritable oaken bucket of the song.

    —James Thurber, 1952, 'Daguerreotype of a Lady', in The Thurber Album

    I had met this before, from a US friend, but from her description assumed they were the same as my hedge bindweed and the name came merely from the appearance. However, learning they are nocturnal, I find that moonflowers are genus Ipomoea (same as morning glory and, surprisingly, sweet potato), whilst bindweed are Calystegia, both in the family Convolvulaceae.

    July 10, 2008