Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as ahinahina.

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

  • noun Any member of the genus Argyroxiphium of flowering plants native to Hawaii, with long, narrow leaves sometimes covered in silvery hairs.

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

  • noun low-growing plant found only in volcanic craters on Hawaii having rosettes of narrow pointed silver-green leaves and clusters of profuse red-purple flowers on a tall stem

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From silver +‎ sword.

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Examples

  • Thanks largely to their pioneering and tireless efforts in these areas, this Park remains a world-class biological jewel where people can still experience a mind-bending diversity of unique ecosystems and species such as the charismatic nene goose, hawksbill sea turtle, and Mauna Loa silversword.

    Robert J. Cabin: The Wildfires in Hawaii Are a Loss for Our World Robert J. Cabin 2011

  • Thanks largely to their pioneering and tireless efforts in these areas, this Park remains a world-class biological jewel where people can still experience a mind-bending diversity of unique ecosystems and species such as the charismatic nene goose, hawksbill sea turtle, and Mauna Loa silversword.

    Robert J. Cabin: The Wildfires in Hawaii Are a Loss for Our World Robert J. Cabin 2011

  • Bonnie often paused to take photographs and marvel at the rich, dramatic reds and browns of the soils, the intense frosty-white of the silversword that thrived impossibly in the harsh environment, the sudden and dramatic shift to soft dusk as clouds billowed over the rim of the volcano and enveloped them.

    The Aloha Quilt Jennifer Chiaverini 2010

  • Bonnie often paused to take photographs and marvel at the rich, dramatic reds and browns of the soils, the intense frosty-white of the silversword that thrived impossibly in the harsh environment, the sudden and dramatic shift to soft dusk as clouds billowed over the rim of the volcano and enveloped them.

    The Aloha Quilt Jennifer Chiaverini 2010

  • Bonnie often paused to take photographs and marvel at the rich, dramatic reds and browns of the soils, the intense frosty-white of the silversword that thrived impossibly in the harsh environment, the sudden and dramatic shift to soft dusk as clouds billowed over the rim of the volcano and enveloped them.

    The Aloha Quilt Jennifer Chiaverini 2010

  • And the Haleakala silversword, a bizarre long-leafed plant that blooms with hundreds of magenta flowers once every 50 years, is on the ropes: an ant that sneaked in from Argentina kills the native yellow-faced bees that pollinate the silversword.

    Aliens Invade America! 2008

  • On the highest peaks, cold and dry conditions create alpine deserts inhabited by silversword (Agryroxiphium sandwicense), Dubautia spp., and other alpine-adapted plants, as well as alpine-adapted invertebrate species.

    Hawaii tropical high shrublands 2008

  • She was thinking of how sad life was for the silversword and, then, of course how ridiculous that notion was.

    The Miko Lustbader, Eric 1984

  • Other organisms, like Hawaiian silversword plants or Galapagos finches, come up frequently because they're fantastic examples of evolution happening out in the "real world".

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science 2009

  • Other organisms, like Hawaiian silversword plants or Galapagos finches, come up frequently because they're fantastic examples of evolution happening out in the "real world".

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science 2009

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