turtlehead

plural turtleheads

1. countableuncountableA white turtlehead, an American perennial herb (Chelone glabra) with white flowers.

   ᴄʜᴇʟᴏɴᴀ ɢʟᴀʙʀᴀ. Common Names—Snake-head, Balmony, Turtle-head, Turtle-bloom, Shell-flower, Bitter-herb, &c.

   1833, Horton Howard, An Improved System of Botanic Medicine, volume 2, page 231

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   The creamy color of the flower, sometimes tinged with pink, turns to brown as it fades. Turtlehead is easily cultivated and forms a desirable addition to the wildflower garden.

   1925, Mary Vaux Walcott, North American Wild Flowers, page 259

   Synonyms: balmony, shell flower, snakehead

2. countableuncountableAny of various other members of the genus Chelone.

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   […] [T]he fifth stamen, which is altogether missing in Gerardia and most others, appears in the Figwort as a little scale, and in Pentstemon and Turtlehead as a sort of filament without any anther;—a thing of no use whatever to the plant, but very interesting to the botanist, since it completes the symmetry of the blossom.

   1859, Asa Gray, “Lesson 13”, in First Lessons in Botany and Vegetable Physiology, page 94