Aaron's Beard
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The popular name of many wild plants, including Great St. John's Wort (Rose of Sharon), the Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Meadowsweet, Saxifrage Sarmentosa, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Aaron's Beard” mean?
The popular name of many wild plants, including Great St. John's Wort (Rose of Sharon), the Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Meadowsweet, Saxifrage Sarmentosa, etc.
Is “Aaron's Beard” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.