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celandine (SEL-uhn-dayn, SEL-uhn-deen) - n., any of three perennial herbaceous plants with yellow flowers: Chelidonium majus (also known as greater celandine and swallowwort), Ficaria verna (formerly Ranunculus ficaria, also known as lesser celandine), and Stylophorum diphyllum (also known as celandine-poppy).
The first two are from Europe & western Asia and Europe & northern Africa, respectively, while the latter is from eastern North America. The name, which was originally was applied to the greater celandine, dates to around 1300, then spelled celidoine, from Old French, from Medieval Latin celidōnia, from Latin chelīdonia, feminine of chelīdonium, from Greek khelīdonion, of the swallow, from khelīdōn, swallow, so named because supposedly it bloomed at the same time migratory swallows returned in spring. How's that for a pileup of sound-shifts. Some lesser celandine:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
The first two are from Europe & western Asia and Europe & northern Africa, respectively, while the latter is from eastern North America. The name, which was originally was applied to the greater celandine, dates to around 1300, then spelled celidoine, from Old French, from Medieval Latin celidōnia, from Latin chelīdonia, feminine of chelīdonium, from Greek khelīdonion, of the swallow, from khelīdōn, swallow, so named because supposedly it bloomed at the same time migratory swallows returned in spring. How's that for a pileup of sound-shifts. Some lesser celandine:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
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