hartwort
/ˈhɑːtwəːt/noun
Originally: any of various umbelliferous plants used medicinally; especially the herbaceous plants Laserpitium latifolium, L. siser, Seseli tortuosum, and Levisticum officinale, and the shrub Bupleurum fruticosum. In later use: specifically any member of the genus Tordylium (family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)), comprising herbaceous plants native to southern Europe (and grown or occasionally naturalized elsewhere); especially (more fully great hartwort) T. maximum.
- Originally applied mainly to plants known to 16th and 17th c. herbalists by the Latin name of seseli (now redistributed to many modern genera). small hartwort: see the first element..
Origin
Mid 16th century; earliest use found in William Turner (d. 1568), naturalist and religious controversialist. From hart + wort, after German Hirtzwurtz.