What is "cowage"

Cowhage \Cow"hage\ (kou"h[asl]j), n. [Cf. Hind. kaw[=a]nch, ko[=a]nch.] (Bot.) A leguminous climbing plant of the genus Mucuna, having crooked pods covered with sharp hairs, which stick to the fingers, causing intolerable itching. The spicul[ae] are sometimes used in medicine as a mechanical vermifuge.

alt. A leguminous climbing plant, ''Mucuna pruriens'', the spiculae of which are sometimes used as a mechanical vermifuge. n. A leguminous climbing plant, ''Mucuna pruriens'', the spiculae of which are sometimes used as a mechanical vermifuge.

1. n. pods of the cowage plant or the stinging hairs covering them; used as a vermifuge when mixed with e.g. honey

2. annual semi-woody vine of Asia having long clusters of purplish flowers and densely hairy pods; cultivated in southern United States for green manure and grazing [syn: velvet bean, Bengal bean, Benghal bean, Florida bean, Mucuna pruriens utilis, Mucuna deeringiana, Mucuna aterrima, Stizolobium deeringiana]