spleenwort

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

spleenwort (plural spleenworts)

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

• asplenium

• liverwort
• lungwort (“pulmonaria”)
• toothwort (“dentaria”)
• woundwort

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

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

• snow petrel