fleawortn.
/ˈfliːwəːt/, U.S. /ˈfliˌwərt/ A name given to various plants. Amongst the plants that have been so called from their supposed virtues in destroying fleas are Inula Conyza and some species of Cineraria and Erigeron. Turner and many subsequent writers apply the name to Plantago Psyllium, the Latin and Greek names of which (Pulicaria, ψύλλιον) refer to the resemblance of the seeds to fleas.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun]
heatha700
beeworteOE
leversc725
springworteOE
clotec1000
halswortc1000
sengreenc1000
bottle?a1200
bird's-tonguea1300
bloodworta1300
faverolea1300
vetchc1300
pimpernel1378
oniona1398
bird's nest?a1425
adder's grassc1450
cockheada1500
ambrosia1525
fleawort1548
son before the father1552
crow-toe1562
basil1578
bird's-foot1578
bloodroot1578
throatwort1578
phalangium1608
yew1653
chalcedon1664
dittany1676
bleeding heart1691
felon-wort1706
hedgehog1712
land caltrops1727
old man's beard1731
loosestrife1760
Solomon's seal1760
fireweed1764
desert rose1792
star of Bethlehem1793
hen and chickens1794
Aaron's beard1820
felon-grass1824
arrowroot1835
snake-root1856
firebush1858
tick-seed1860
bird's eye1863
burning bush1866
rat-tail1871
lamb's earsa1876
lamb's tongue plant1882
tar-weed1884
Tom Thumb1886
parrotbeak1890
stinkweed1932
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 273/24 Parirus [? papirus], fleawyrt.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. F.vv Psyllium..may be called in englishe Flewurte.
?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe (1585) M vij b A bath made of the decoction of flewort taketh away all goutes.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 390 Conyza maior. Great Fleawoort.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 239 Psyllium, Fleawort, is good for the vlcers thereof.
1756 J. Hill Brit. Herbal 159 Fleawort, Psyllium, the flower is composed of four small oval petals.
1816–20 T. Green Universal Herbal I. 304 Cineraria Integrifolia, Mountain Cineraria or Fleawort.
1816–20 T. Green Universal Herbal I. 512 The old name of this plant [Erigeron Viscosum] is..great fleawort.
1825 J. E. Smith Eng. Flora III. 443 Cineraria palustris, Marsh Flea-wort.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.c1000