a. and sb. [f. EVER adv. + GREEN.] A. adj.
1. Always green.
[1555. Eden, Decades, 196. There are certeyne trees which contynewe euer greene and neuer lose theyr leaues.]
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), III. 409. Studs of magnificent coursers pasture at all seasons in the ever-green valleys.
1860. Maury, Phys. Geog. Sea, x. § 462. Were the sea fresh … Ireland would never have presented those ever-green shores.
b. fig. Always fresh, never-failing.
1871. Echo, 13 Feb. One could not help being struck with the evergreen good humour of the French.
2. Of trees, shrubs, etc.: Having green leaves all the year round; opposed to deciduous.
In trees of this kind, the leaves of the past season remain on the tree, until the new ones are completely formed, as in the holly, holly-oak, pine, etc.
1671. Milton, Samson, 1735. Shade Of laurel ever-green, and branching palm.
1712. J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 186. When your Ever-green Trees and Shrubs are got to some Height.
1845. Florist’s Jrnl., 156. It [Arctostaphylos nitida] forms a handsome evergreen shrub five or six feet high.
1884. Bower & Scott, De Bary’s Phaner. & Ferns, 535. The evergreen Jasmines.
b. Of leaves: Lasting till the next season.
1776. Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), II. 211. Ilex…. Leaves surrounded by a strong woody border; tough, shining, evergreen.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., III. 357. Leaves, which are often rigid and evergreen.
B. sb. 1. An evergreen tree or shrub. Cf. A. 2.
1644. Evelyn, Mem. (1857), I. 87. The Isle of Corsica, and St. Remo, where the shore is furnished with evergreens, oranges, citrons, and date-trees.
1676. Grew, Anat. Plants, IV. I. v. § 1 (1682), 156. An Evergreen, is one degree above a Plant which is simply Perennial: of This, only the Trunk and Buds live all the Winter; of That, also the Expanded Leaves.
a. 1711. Ken, Hymnotheo, Poet. Wks. III. 116. He to a Thicket lead, With ever-greens and downy Moss bespread.
1813. Sir H. Davy, Agric. Chem. (1814), 67. The cause of the preservation of the leaves of evergreens through the winter is not accurately known.
1828. Scott, Let. Ballantyne, Jan., in Lockhart. She has no business in a ball room but to be ranged against the wall as an evergreen.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 162. Christmas had been … the season … when every house was decorated with evergreens.
fig. 1878. E. Jenkins, Haverholme, 98. She [Lady Willowgrove] was an evergreen. She had been a distinguished figure in society for three generations.
2. attrib.
1825. J. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, II. 31. The evergreen tribe.
1841. W. Spalding, Italy & It. Isl., III. 319. The peculiar tints of the evergreen region disappear. Deciduous oaks and horse-chestnuts become prevalent.
b. In names of various trees, shrubs, etc., as Evergreen Alkanet, Magnolia, Spurge laurel; Evergreen Oak, the Holm Oak (Quercus Ilex).
a. 1682. Sir T. Browne, Tracts (1684), 62. He found the Ilex,… or Ever-green Oak in many places.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., IV. 51. Evergreen Alkanet … is a stout bristly plant … its leaves are of rich deep green colour.
1867. Lady Herbert, Cradle L., vii. 168. Terebinth or evergreen oak here and there gave a grateful shade.
1882. Garden, 8 July, 27/3. The Evergreen Magnolia … is too well known to need description.
Hence Evergreenness.
1842. The Era, 14 Aug., 6/2. Has he … some potent charm to keep him in this state of ever-greenness?
1882–3. W. E. Baxter, Winter in India, vii. 82. The evergreenness of Indian trees is one of the most striking features of the country.
