BAROMETZ

Etymology

Noun

barometz (plural barometzes)

(mythology) A purported zoophyte, half-animal and half-plant, said to grow in the form of a sheep.

Synonyms: Scythian lamb, vegetable lamb, vegetable lamb of Tartary

The golden chicken fern or woolly fern (Cibotium barometz), the rhizomes of which are covered in furry brown hair; the legend (sense 1) is supposed to have arisen because, when inverted, the rhizomes with stalks growing out of them resemble lambs.

Anagrams

• borametz

Source: Wiktionary

Bar"o*metz, n. Etym: [Cf. Russ. baranets' clubmoss.] (Bot.)

Definition: The woolly-skinned rhizoma or rootstock of a fern (Dicksonia barometz), which, when specially prepared and inverted, somewhat resembles a lamb; -- called also Scythian lamb.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition