white snakeroot

white snakeroot
a North American boneset, Eupatorium rugosum, that has heads of white flowers and causes trembles and milk sickness. Also called Indian sanicle.
[1810-20, Amer.]

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▪ plant
also called  White Sanicle 

      (Eupatorium rugosum), poisonous North American herb bearing flat-topped clusters of small white flower heads. It grows up to 1.5 m (5 feet) tall with 18-centimetre (7-inch) leaves opposite each other.

       cattle allowed to pasture on the plant may suffer muscular tremors (the “trembles”), weakness, constipation, and death. Persons who drink the milk of affected cows may experience milksickness, a condition marked by weakness, vomiting, and constipation.

      White snakeroot belongs to the family Asteraceae, also called Compositae, in the order Asterales. Like other members of the large genus Eupatorium, it is sometimes called boneset, or thoroughwort.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • white snakeroot — n a poisonous No. American herb of the genus Eupatorium (E. rugosum) that is a cause of trembles and milk sickness …   Medical dictionary

  • White Snakeroot — Taxobox | image width = 310px image caption = White Snakeroot ( Eupatorium rugosum ). name = White Snakeroot regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Magnoliopsida ordo = Asterales familia = Asteraceae tribus = Eupatorieae genus =… …   Wikipedia

  • white snakeroot — noun American herb having flat topped clusters of small white flower heads; reputedly a cause of trembles and milk sickness; sometimes placed in genus Eupatorium • Syn: ↑white sanicle, ↑Ageratina altissima, ↑Eupatorium rugosum • Hypernyms: ↑herb …   Useful english dictionary

  • Snakeroot — Snake root , n. (Bot.) Any one of several plants of different genera and species, most of which are (or were formerly) reputed to be efficacious as remedies for the bites of serpents; also, the roots of any of these. [1913 Webster] Note: The… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • snakeroot — ☆ snakeroot [snākro͞ot΄, snākroot΄ ] n. 1. any of a number of plants reputed to be remedies for snakebites, as the black snakeroot (genus Sanicula) of the umbel family or the white snakeroot ( Eupatorium rugosum) of the composite family 2. the… …   English World dictionary

  • white sanicle — noun American herb having flat topped clusters of small white flower heads; reputedly a cause of trembles and milk sickness; sometimes placed in genus Eupatorium • Syn: ↑white snakeroot, ↑Ageratina altissima, ↑Eupatorium rugosum • Hypernyms:… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Snakeroot — The related genus Eupatorium also contains plants called snakeroot . Virginia Snakeroot ( Aristolochia serpentaria ) and Canadian Snakeroot ( Asarum canadense ) are unrelated plants.Taxobox name = Snakeroot image width = 200px image caption =… …   Wikipedia

  • snakeroot — /snayk rooht , root /, n. 1. any of various plants whose roots have been regarded as a remedy for snakebites, as the herb Aristolochia serpentaria (Virginia snakeroot), having a medicinal rhizome and rootlets, and the white flowered Polygala… …   Universalium

  • white lettuce — Rattlesnake Rat tle*snake (r[a^]t t l*sn[=a]k ), n. (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of several species of venomous American snakes belonging to the genera {Crotalus} and {Caudisona}, or {Sistrurus}; sometimes also called {rattler}. They have a series of horny …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Seneca snakeroot — noun eastern North American plant having a terminal cluster of small white flowers and medicinal roots • Syn: ↑Seneka snakeroot, ↑senga root, ↑senega root, ↑senega snakeroot, ↑Polygala senega • Hypernyms: ↑milkwort …   Useful english dictionary

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