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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lungwort

Lungwort \Lung"wort`\, n. (Bot.)

  1. An herb of the genus Pulmonaria ( Pulmonaria officinalis), of Europe; -- so called because the spotted appearance of the leaves resembles that of a diseased lung.

  2. Any plant of the genus Mertensia (esp. Mertensia Virginica and Mertensia Sibirica), plants nearly related to Pulmonaria. The American lungwort is Mertensia Virginica, Virginia cowslip.
    --Gray.

    Cow's lungwort mullein.

    Sea lungwort, Mertensia maritima, found on the seacoast of Northern Europe and America.

    Tree lungwort, a lichen ( Sticta pulmonacea) growing on trees and rocks. The thallus is lacunose, and in appearance somewhat resembles the lungs, for diseases of which it was once thought a remedy.

Wiktionary
lungwort

n. 1 (context botany English) Any of various European plants, of the genus (taxlink Pulmonaria genus noshow=1), that were once used to treat respiratory disorders. 2 Any of several other, unrelated plants, used to treat respiratory disorders 3 # (taxlink Hieracium murorum species noshow=1), (vern: French lungwort) or (vern: golden lungwort) 4 # (taxlink Helleborus niger species noshow=1), (vern: black lungwort) 5 # (taxlink Mertensia genus noshow=1) 6 # ''Verbascum thapsus'', (vern: bullock's lungwort), cow's lungwort or (vern: clown's lungwort) 7 # (taxlink Lobaria pulmonaria species noshow=1), (vern: lungwort lichen), (vern: lung lichen)

Usage examples of "lungwort".

Dunworthy had made her study medicinal herbs, and she recognized comfrey and lungwort and the crushed leaves of tansy.

A leaf that was shaped and colored like a lung became lungwort, not because it actually cured sick lungs but because it should.

I do now, perhaps I would have walked the path to the Endless Summer and gathered lungwort and elderflower to combat her cough, and willow and catmint to help ease her pain and gently sweat out the fever.

Nor was it the colour of her eyes, the deep pure blue of the lungwort, that blue loveliness seen in no other flower on earth.

We descended into the ravine, on both slopes of which, amidst thick growths of wild raspberry, lungwort and willow-herb and the raw smell of decaying leaves and mushrooms, the dug-outs were built.

From where I was standing I could see the foaming white water-fall, the wooden foot-bridge spanning it beside the high fortress bridge, the broad calm stretch of river beyond the waterfall, and the rocky banks of Smotrich overgrown with yellow lungwort and hawthorn.

It contained brimstone and antimony, quicksilver and iron filings, fennel and cuckoo's pintel, and lungwort and foxglove.