bears-breach, or brank-ursine, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the didynamia angiosperma class. There are only five species of this plant, all of which are natives either of Italy or the Indies. For its figure, which is extremely beautiful, see plate I, fig. 3. The leaves of the acanthus are famous for having given rise to the capital of the Corinthian order of architecture.

ACANTHUS is likewise used by Theophrastus as a synonyme of the acacia.

in architecture, an ornament representing the leaves of the acanthus, used in the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders. See ARCHITECTURE.