dentaria Bot.
(dɛnˈtɛərɪə)
[mod.L. (J. P. de Tournefort Institutiones Rei Herbariæ (1700) I. 225), fem. sing. of L. dentarius pertaining to the teeth, so called from the tooth-like scales on the roots of the plant.]
A plant of the cruciferous genus so named; = pepper-root (pepper n. 7), pepperwort 16, toothwort 3.
| 1818 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. 2nd Ser. VIII. 169 Among those, that flower in June, the most interesting are..the sarsaparilla, the dentaria or tooth-root,..and the mountain ash. 1886 M. Arnold Lett. (1895) II. 327 The dentarias too are beautiful. |