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There are some plants whose leaves and stems are not the usual glossy green, but which are covered in very fine white hairs, or white fuzz. One example I have right now in my kitchen would be sage.

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I am sure that there is a word in the English language which describes the appearance of such plants (not just fuzzy plants, but specifically ones covered in white fuzz). But I don't remember the word. Does someone know it?

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  • Is there an equivalent word in another language you can think of?
    – tenfour
    Commented Mar 5, 2011 at 14:05
  • No, I only have ever read it in English. I remember looking it up in a dictionary and being amazed at the existence of such a specific word.
    – rumtscho
    Commented Mar 5, 2011 at 14:28
  • Dusty or mouldy ;)
    – mplungjan
    Commented Mar 5, 2011 at 16:26
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    @mplungjan I am enough of a hobby cook for my hair to stand on end when I hear such talk of my herbs. Let's call the ones on the back shelves "secondary canescent" instead.
    – rumtscho
    Commented Mar 6, 2011 at 13:29

6 Answers 6

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You could try hoary, canescent, or incanous.

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    Thank you, this is perfect! It was "canescent" I was looking for, didn't know the others. How did you find them so quick, did you know them or is there some kind of reverse dictionary available where I could put a description and get the word?
    – rumtscho
    Commented Mar 5, 2011 at 14:29
  • I knew hoary and canescent so I just googled those words and added incanous to the list. But you can use a reverse dictionary as well. A search of "reverse dictionary" will turn up several serviceable ones.
    – Robusto
    Commented Mar 5, 2011 at 14:50
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Pubescence is the term used for plants.

Botany & Zoology soft down on the leaves and stems of plants or on various parts of animals, especially insects.

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  • Whilst you are technically correct (assuming that by 'the term used for plants' you mean 'the term used for the hairiness/fuzziness of plants'), the OP asked specifically for fine white hairs, not hairs in general (hence my downvote).
    – Alicia Butteriss
    Commented May 29, 2013 at 21:06
  • adj. puberelent covered with fine soft hairs or down
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 23:22
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'Pubescent' is technically correct. "Hairy" is actually used in some botanical texts, although of course plants do not have hair as in the mammalian sense. Also "downy" -- fine white hairs on leaves. Another scientific term is sericeous" -- silky with dense appressed hairs.

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Trichome, meaning "hair", are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. - Wikipedia

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    Good answer. The defining adjectives are listed on the listed website. They are definitely technical and usually, the leaves of such plants are simply called "hairy."
    – Greybeard
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 10:42
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You could possibly be looking for the world "Pilose", my best guess as it's used in the sphere of botany quite a bit.

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    Welcome to EL&U. Please improve your answer by adding links to references to the word you're suggesting.
    – Rupert Morrish
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 21:32
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Just to round things out - lanate

: covered with fine hair or hairlike filaments : woolly

"Lanate." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2017.

Lamb's-ear plants are perennial herbs usually densely covered with gray or silver-white, silky-lanate hairs. They are named lamb's ears because of the leaves curved shape and white, soft, fur-like hair coating.

Stachys byzantina: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachys_byzantina

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