-ˈtäməs- noun
Usage: usually capitalized S & 1st T
Etymology: after St. Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples; from the tradition that the red spots on the flowers were caused by drops of Thomas' blood falling on such a shrub when he was martyred in India
: a tropical Asiatic and African shrub ( Bauhinia tomentosa ) with tomentose to glabrate branchlets, lower leaf surfaces, and pods and yellow flowers with a red or brownish blotch that is grown as an ornamental and found as an escape in the West Indies