Also snakeshead, snake’s-head. [SNAKE sb. 12.]
1. attrib. a. Snake’s-head iris, an iris of the Mediterranean region, Hermodactylus tuberosus.
1739. Miller, Gard. Dict., II. Hermodactylus, the Hermodactyl, commonly called Snakes-head Iris.
1786. Abercrombie, Arr., in Gard. Assist., 59. Tuberous-rooted, or snake’s head iris.
1825. Greenho. Comp., I. 117. Chalcedonian and Snakeshead Iris.
1882. Garden, 18 March, 176/1. The Snake’s-head Iris … is not a new, but a very old, plant.
b. Snake’s-head fly (see quot.).
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., III. xxxiv. 527. Raphidia, the snake’s-head fly.
c. Snake’s-head fritillary, lily (see 2 b).
1899. Gardening Illustr., 29 April, 112/1. The beautiful Snake’s-head Fritillary … that grows in the Oxfordshire meadows.
1902. Cornish, Naturalist Thames, 180. Butterburs and wild spake’s-head lilies.
2. a. U.S. = SNAKE-HEAD 1.
1834. Audubon, Ornith., II. 150. The Snake’s Head [Chelone glabra] grows on the banks of rivers and swamps, in the Middle and Southern States.
1866. Treas. Bot., 1067.
b. The common fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris; so called from the fancied resemblance of the bud to the head of a snake.
1859. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 277. Common Fritillary, or Snake’s-head.
1869. Ruskin, Q. of Air, § 87. It chequers itself into a snake’s head, and secretes in the deep of its bell … honey-dew.
1897. B’ham Weekly Post, 17 April, 4/7. Snakes-heads, our wild flower is sometimes called, from the shape of the buds.
3. U.S. (See quots. and SNAKE-HEAD 2.)
184[?]. in Bartlett, Dict. Amer., 315. The road to Petersburg consists of an iron strap laid upon pine timber, and is beautifully diversified with that peculiar half horizontal, vibrating rail, known as ‘snake’s head.’
1886. Encycl. Brit., XX. 223 n., As the ends of the bars became loose and turned upwards they were known as ‘snakes’ heads.’
