spleenwort

 

From spleen +‎ wort, from their use as a cure for anthrax in livestock. Cf. asplenium.

spleenwort (countable and uncountable, plural spleenworts)

1. Any of a number of types of ferns in the genus Asplenium.

• asplenium

• liverwort (Hepatica spp.; Marchantiopsida spp.)
• lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.)
• toothwort (Cardamine subg. Dentaria spp.)
• woundwort (Stachys spp. etc)

• doctrine of signatures (Paracelsus); (spleenwort being a treatment for spitefulness/spleen ailments)

• “spleenwort, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914.
• “Spleenwort”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
•   spleenwort on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
•   Asplenium on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
•   Asplenium on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

• snow petrel