steeplebushes

Noun

steeplebush (usually uncountable, plural steeplebushes)

1. (usually) A plant with narrow pyramidal clusters of flowers and a dense woolly tomentum.
   • They passed many species they had already collected for the Millennium project — maple-leaved vibernum, steeplebush with spiky stalks of tiny pink flowers, black birch — as well as a particularly impressive specimen of that quintessential Staten Island forest dweller, Automobilius burnedouticus.2007 August 8, Andy Newman, “In Case of Apocalypse Later, a Plan to Ensure America’s Regreening”, in New York Times
   1. (usually) Spiraea tomentosa, of eastern North American
   2. (usually) Spiraea douglasii, of western North America