gang flowern.
/ˈɡaŋ ˌflaʊə/, U.S. /ˈɡæŋ ˌflaʊər/ Now historical and rare.
Common milkwort, Polygala vulgaris; also called rogation flower.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Polygalaceae (milkwort and allies) > [noun]
milkwort1578
polygala1578
Cross-flower1597
gang flower1597
rogation flower1597
procession flower1633
rattlesnake root1682
senega1738
rattlesnake-wort1763
flowering wintergreen1818
mountain flax1824
shepherd's thyme1857
love1874
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 450 Milke woort is called Ambarualis flos..bicause it doth specially flourish in the Crosse or Gang weeke, or Rogation weeke;..in English we may cal it Crosse flower, Gang flower.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum Miscelanea v. 1333 The Italians call it Poligala..and we in English Gang-flower, Crosse-flower, or Milkewort.
1757 W. Young New Latin-English Dict. Gang flowers, Polygala.
1859 Monthly Packet Sept. 315 Milkwort was much used..and obtained its old English names of Rogation Flower, Gang Flower, and Procession Flower.
1888 Rep. & Coll. State Hist. Soc. Wisconsin 10 82 English parishes were perambulated every Spring on the so-called gang-day. Magistrates, priests and people, girls bearing gang-flowers, walked in procession.
1920 F. Darwin Springtime & Other Ess. 100 The common milk-wort used to be called the Gang-flower because it blossoms in what our ancestors called Gang Week.
1954 C. Hunt Brit. Customs & Ceremonies 149 The weed, milk-wort, is still often called the Rogation or Gang flower because it was used in the decoration of poles and wands carried on these occasions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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