| 释义 |
ˈcow-wheat Herb.
[From the prevalence of the species Melampyrum arvense in wheat fields, where its black seeds are apt to be mixed with the grain: hence Gr. µελάµπῡρον ‘black wheat’; the Eng. name answers to med.L. triticum vaccinum or bovinum, Fr. blé de vache, Ger. kuhweizen, in 16th c. kuweyssen (Dodoens), Du. koeweyte (Kilian): cf. cow n.1 9.]
1. A plant, Melampyrum arvense, family Scrophulariaceæ, which grows in corn-fields in the E. and S. of England, and in the Isle of Wight. Sometimes distinguished from other species as purple cow-wheat.
1578Lyte Dodoens ii. xiv. 163 Horse floure, or Cowe wheate..hath a straight stemme. 1597Gerarde Herbal i. lxviii. 91 The seed of cow wheat raiseth up fumes.
2. Extended as a book-name to the other species of Melampyrum, as crested cow-wheat (M. cristatum), meadow cow-wheat (M. pratense), wood cow-wheat (M. sylvaticum).
1597Gerarde Herbal i. lxix. 91 Red leafed wild Cow wheat. 1756Sir J. Hill Herbal 123 Cow-wheat, Melampyrum. The flower consists of a single petal, and approaches to the labiated shape. 1854S. Thomson Wild Fl. iii. (ed. 4) 223 We can scarce miss the yellow corollas of the Melampyrum pratense, or common cow-wheat.
3. Locally applied to the yellow rattle, Rhinanthus Crista-galli.
So in S. W. Cumberland (Britten and Holland). |