1. A flower resembling a bee; the Bee Orchis.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 609. The Figure maketh the Fable; For so we see, there be Bee-Flowers, &c.
1749. Mrs. Delany, Autobiog. (1861), II. 531. Could Mrs. Viney send the Duchess a root or two of the bee-flower?
2. A flower visited or fertilized by bees.
1615. Lawson, Orch. & Gard., III. vi. (1668), 12. Wall flowers, commonly called Bee-flowers, or Winter Gilly-Flowers.
1879. Lubbock, Sci. Lect., ii. 32. Bee-flowers (if I may coin such an expression) have generally bright clear colors.
