Incanus
/in-KAH-nus/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: incana, incanum
A color epithet describing a distinctly hoary-gray appearance caused by a dense covering of white or pale gray hairs. The tone is more definitively white-gray than canescens (which implies the process of becoming gray), implying an established, persistent hoary coloration. Appears as incanus (masculine), incana (feminine), or incanum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin incanus, meaning "quite gray" or "hoary," from in- (intensive prefix) + canus (white, gray).
Example
“Salvia incana and Helichrysum incanum have the classic hoary-gray, intensely white-haired foliage that distinguishes them in the garden as silver-leaved plants of the driest, sunniest conditions.”