zebrinahttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zebrina_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezebrina, n.
Revised 2018

zebrinanoun

Botany.
  1. 1846–
    Any of various perennial herbaceous plants of the (former) genus Zebrina, native to Mexico, Central America, and South America, and widely cultivated as indoor plants, typically having ovate striped leaves and clusters of small pink or purple flowers. Also (in form Zebrina): the (former) genus itself. Cf. Tradescantia n.
    Also called Wandering Jew.
    Plants formerly included in the genus Zebrina are now placed in the genus Tradescantia (family Commelinaceae).
    1. 1846
      Almost all the best stove plants,..particularly the zebrina, and others named in our last, are finely in bloom.
      Farmer's Magazine January 91/2
    2. 1883
      Tradescantia leiandra... Referred doubtfully by Clarke to Zebrina, but it has none of the characteristics of that genus.
      American Acad. Arts & Sciences 1882–3 vol. 18 167
    3. 1920
      Zebrina. Wandering Jew.
      L. H. Bailey, Bot. for Secondary Schools 335
    4. 1946
      English Ivy, Tradescantia, and Zebrina (to trail over edge [of a window-box]).
      M. Free, All about House Plants iii. 15
    5. 1960
      The green or white and green striped zebrinas.
      Times 30 January 11/2
    6. 2003
      Zebrinas like moist soil, while their cousins prefer to dry out a bit between waterings.
      1000 Gardening Questions & Answers (New York Times) xiii. 593/2

zebrina, n. was revised in June 2018.

zebrina, n. was last modified in July 2023.