chenopodium Bot.
(kɛnəˈpɒdɪəm)
[mod.L., f. Gr. χήν goose + ποδ-, πούς foot, referring to the shape of the leaf. Adopted by Linnæus in his Species Plantarum (1753) I. 218 as the name of a genus.]
A member of a large genus of herbaceous plants so named; goose-foot. Also attrib.
| 1597 J. Gerard Herball xliii. 259 The later herbarists have called it Pes anserinus, of the likenesse that the leaves have with the foote of a Goose: of some Chenopodium: in English Goosefoote and wilde Orach. 1640 J. Parkinson Theatr. Bot. xiii. 759 Pes anserinus or Chenopodium..meaning the Garden sort [of Arrache] with purplish leaves. 1807 T. Martyn Miller's Gard. & Bot. Dict. s.v., It is whiter than most of the Chenopodiums; and varies exceedingly, both when young, and in its seeding state. 1915 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. CVIII. i. 195 The toxicity of chenopodium oil is increased in starvation. 1926 Contemp. Rev. Feb. 235 A list of such flowers includes chenopodiums, [etc.]. 1968 D. Macleod Bk. Herbs 81 Our own country name of Smearwort refers to the old use of Chenopodium in ointment. |