ˈsnake-root
Also snake root, snakeroot.
[f. snake n.]
1. a. The root or rhizome of one or other of several American plants reputed to possess properties antidotal to snake-poison, esp. the dried root of Polygala Senega and Aristolochia serpentaria used largely in medicine; the medicinal preparation obtained from this.
| 1635 Relat. Maryland iii. 17 An excellent preseruative against Poyson, called by the English, the Snake roote. 1679 Moreau in Perry Hist. Coll. Am. Col. Ch. I. 30, I make bold to send a small quantity of snake root, the best sudorific..and counter poison that nature..can afford. 1703 W. Dampier Voy. III. i. 72 Drugs of several sorts, viz. Sassafras, Snake-root, &c. 1783 Med. Comment. I. 143 He was ordered to take a decoction of bark and snakeroot. 1822–7 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 675 Bark, valerian, snake-root, conium, and the various preparations of the hop. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1067/2. |
b. One or other of these plants.
| 1712 Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 26 Snake-Root..is called by some Dittany, by others Contrayerva of Virginia. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. App., Snake-root, aristolochia,..a genus of plants, otherwise called birthwort. 1832 Griffith tr. Cuvier XIV. 60 The spathes of the snake-root..are often covered or filled with sylphs. 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 378 Of these the most celebrated is a North American herb called Snake-root, Polygala senega. 1861 G. F. Berkeley Eng. Sportsman xi. 173 Only a flower here and there to be seen [on the prairie], consisting of the snake-root and the wild sun flower. |
c. Used with specific names, as
American snake-root,
black snake-root,
button snake-root,
Canada snake-root or
Canadian snake-root,
Red River snake-root,
Samson's snake-root,
Seneca snake-root,
Texan snake-root,
white snake-root,
wild snake-root;
Virginia(n) snake-root, the root of
Polygala Senega or
Aristolochia serpentaria, the medicinal preparation made from this, or either of the plants producing it.
| 1857 Henfrey Bot. 257 Polygala Senega, the *American Snake-root. |
| 1755 Johnson s.v. Ducksfoot, *Black snake⁓root, or Mayapple. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. 325 Root, Snake, black or wild, of America, Actæa. 1812 New Botanic Gard. I. 19 [Actæa Racemosa] is a native of North America, where it is often distinguished by the title of Black Snake-root. 1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingd. 380 Sanicula marilandica, called in the United States Black Snake⁓root. |
| 1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 101 Eryngium aquaticum (*button snake-root). 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. 151 E. yuccæfolium (Rattlesnake-Master, Button Snake⁓root). Ibid. 184 Liatris. Button Snakeroot. |
| 1849 J. H. Balfour Man. Bot. 491 Asarum canadense, Wild Ginger, or *Canada Snake-root, is used as a spice in Canada. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 189 The rhizome of Asarum canadense, L., passes under the name of Canadian Snake-root. |
| Ibid., The root of Aristolochia reticulata,..which is known in the United States as *Red River or Texan Snake-root. |
| 1892 F. P. Foster Med. Dict. IV. 2660 Psoralea eglandulosa. *Samson's snakeroot. |
| 1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. 180 We find here Polygala, one species of which is called *Seneca snake-root. |
| 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 258/2 The Sudorifick Tincture, or Tincture of *Virginia Snake-root. 1720 tr. Hodge's Loimologia 165 Virginian Snake-Root, when fresh and fragrant is the most efficacious. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 481 Take of Virginian snake-root in powder, half a drachm. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 448/1 A deficiency of saliva..is removed by the Virginian snake-root. |
| 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. 188 Eupatorium ageratoides (*White Snake-root). |
2. a. One or other of several plants so called from a fancied resemblance to a snake in some respect (see
quots.).
| 1856 Delamer Fl. Gard. (1861) 55 The Snake-root, Arum dracunculus, or Dragon Arum, is often found in old flower-gardens. 1858 A. Irvine Handbk. Brit. Plants Index 832 Snake-root,..Polygonum Bistorta. 1895 Oliver tr. Kerner's Plants I. 708 The creeping stems of the Snake-root (Calla palustris). |
b. = rauwolfia.
| 1955 Sci. Amer. Oct. 81/1 Reserpine is an alkaloid extract from the snakeroot plant. 1976 W. A. R. Thomson Herbs that Heal ix. 147 The root, popularly known as ‘snake-root’ because of its long, tapering, crooked nature, contains most of the medicinal properties of the plant. |