amaranthine

adjective

am·a·ran·thine ˌa-mə-ˈran(t)-thən

-ˈran-ˌthīn

: of or relating to an amaranth

: undying

: of the color amaranth

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Long ago poets conceived of a flower that did not fade and christened it amaranth. The appellation is rooted in the Greek word amarantos, meaning "immortal" or "unfading," and amarantus, the Latin name of a flower (probably Celosia cristata). The word amaranthine emerged as an adjective of the imaginary flower and subsequently of anything possessing its undying quality. Amaranth also names a real plant (genus Amaranthus), an herb that some consider a weed and others grow for its colorful leaves and spikes of flowers.

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Jean Spangler is one such amaranthine dame, a 1940s aspiring starlet whose unsolved disappearance has more noir twists and turns than an M. Night Shyamalan adaptation of a James Ellroy novel. —