A South African bulbous plant with small white or yellowish star-like flowers, popular as a cut flower for arrangements.
From Xhosa (South African language), the word is imitative of the sound made by the flower stalks rattling together in the wind. The English spelling emerged from phonetic approximation.
Chincherinchee flowers make a tinkling, rattling sound when their stalks touch each other in the breeze—and the plant's name is literally an onomatopoeia of that sound, making it one of the most delightfully named flowers.
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