Definitions

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

  • noun An evergreen perennial plant (Galax urceolata) of the eastern United States, having a rosette of glossy, heart-shaped leaves and tall spikelike racemes of small white flowers.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of plants, referred to the natural order Diapensiaceæ, of a single species, G. aphylla, found in open woods from Virginia to Georgia.
  • noun The plant Galax aphylla, known also as galaxy and beetle-weed. Because of its persistent shining leaves galax is gathered in large quantities and sold by florists for ornamental purposes.

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

  • noun tufted evergreen perennial herb having spikes of tiny white flowers and glossy green round to heart-shaped leaves that become coppery to maroon or purplish in fall

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Galax, genus name, ultimately from Greek gala, galakt-, milk; see galaxy.]

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Examples

  • Other mountain flora found here include rhododendron, azalea, galax, mountain laurel, pitch pine, table mountain pine, and various ferns.

    Ecoregions of North Carolina and South Carolina (EPA) 2009

  • There were huge blooming patches of galax, fire-weed, and other wildflowers on the hillside far above me, but there was a very attractive dead snag-if one was a bee-poking out of the heavy growth some way below.

    A Breath of Snow and Ashes Gabaldon, Diana 2005

  • They left the rock and hunted on, going netherward into a damp swale rich with the odor of places where galax grows, descending through scattered clumps of twisted laurel to a thin creek.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 2003

  • Together they cast a breedy scent like that arising from dank beds of galax, and it overpowered even the reek of the strange meat.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 2003

  • The fragance of galax and rotted leaves, damp dirt.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 2003

  • Displayed on mantel or table with the Bible, a taper, sprigs of galax, so that the effect was altarlike.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 2003

  • Together they cast a breedy scent like that arising from dank beds of galax, and it overpowered even the reek of the strange meat.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 1997

  • The fragance of galax and rotted leaves, damp dirt.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 1997

  • They left the rock and hunted on, going netherward into a damp swale rich with the odor of places where galax grows, descending through scattered clumps of twisted laurel to a thin creek.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 1997

  • Displayed on mantel or table with the Bible, a taper, sprigs of galax, so that the effect was altarlike.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 1997

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