Jupiter's beard

noun

The red valerian, Centranthus ruber

Similar
silverbushsilver-bushAnthyllis barba-jovis
OriginLatin barba Iovis →
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Meanings

nounJupiter's beard (uncountable)
  1. A common name for various plants:
    1. uncountableThe red valerian, Centranthus ruber
    2. obsoleteuncountableAster linosyris, a European plant with yellow flowers.
    3. uncountableThe silverbush, Anthyllis barba-jovis, a European shrub with silvery leaves.
    4. uncountableThe common houseleek, Sempervivum tectorum.

      1658: Thus […] nature […] somewhat after this manner hath ordered the bush in Jupiters beard, or houseleek; which old superstition set on the tops of houses, as a defensative against lightening, and thunder. — Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus (Folio Society 2007, p. 181)

    5. uncountableA white-edged fungus, Hyphodontia barba-jovis.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounsilvery hairy European shrub with evergreen foliage and pale yellow flowers

Similar
silverbushsilver-bushAnthyllis barba-jovis
Broader
shrubbush
Also see
houseleekjove's beardred valeriansilverbush

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinbarba Iovis
  2. EnglishJupiter's beard

Calque of Latin barba Iovis.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Jupiter's beard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jupiter's%20beard

MLA

“Jupiter's beard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jupiter's%20beard. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Jupiter's beard,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jupiter's%20beard.

Source: Jupiter's beard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.