houseleek
(ˈhaʊsliːk)
Forms: see house and leek: also 6–7 houselike, 7 houslicke.
[OE. type *h{uacu}sléac, f. h{uacu}s house n.1 + léac leek = MDu. huuslooc, MLG. hûslôk, Du. huislook; MHG. huslouch, Ger. hauslauch; Da. huuslög, Sw. huslök.]
The plant Sempervivum tectorum, a succulent herb with pink flowers and thick stem and leaves, the latter forming a dense rosette close to the root, which grows commonly on walls and the roofs of houses. Hence extended to all species of the genus Sempervivum, N.O. Crassulaceæ.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 251/1 Howsleke, herbe, or sengrene, barba Jovis, semper viva, jubarbium. 1538 Turner Libellus, Sedvm, housleke. 1562 ― Herbal ii. 133 a, Hous⁓leke..groweth in mountaynes and hylly places, som vse to set it vpon theyr houses. 1617 Markham Caval. vii. 39 Two spoonefull of the iuyce of houslicke. 1656 Ridgley Pract. Physick 151 Housleek on houses is full of juyce in the greatest heat. 1832 Lytton Eugene A. i. ii, Roofs green with mosses and house-leek. |
| attrib. c 1540 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. ix. 227 Take..of nightshade leaves..howseleke leaves, plantaigne leaves. 1694 Salmon Bates' Disp. (1713) 645/1 Drink after it a Draught of Housleek Whey. |
b. tree houseleek, or
houseleek-tree: a shrubby plant with yellow flowers (
Sempervivum or
æonium arboreum), allied to the Common Houseleek.
sea housleek: see
quot. 1611.
| 1611 Cotgr., Ioubarbe arborée, Tree Housleeke..Ioubarbe marine, Sea Housleek, Sea Aygreen, hearb Aloes. 1866 Treas. Bot. 23/2 æonium arboreum is well known to gardeners as the tree houseleek; its loose panicles, with a profusion of clammy yellow blossoms, are very elegant. 1884 Miller Plant-n., House-leek Tree. |