[mod.L. (Linnæus), ad. Gr. λύθρον gore, in allusion to the color of the flowers.] A genus of plants (N. O. Lythraceæ), including among others the Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria): see LOOSESTRIFE 1 b.
1862. Darwin, in Life & Lett., III. 301. You might have Lythrum in North America.
1879. Athenæum, 5 April, 442/1. The numerous publications of the same author [Darwin] upon Primroses, Lythrums, and other plants, served to bring into prominent notice the important co-relationship between insects and flowers.
