Ballflower - Oxford Definition

The most distinctive ornament of English Decorated architecture in the early 14th century, particularly in Hereford and Gloucester cathedrals, it consists of a globular shaped carving, usually of three stylized leaves clutching a small ball. Ballflower (or ‘bellflower’) is an antiquarian term, suggesting analogies with a flower bud, or possibly small bells, as on an animal collar.