hawkbit

[prettygoodword]

hawkbit (HAWK-bit) - n., any of several species of composite perennial plants (genera Leontodon and Scorzoneroides) with yellow dandelion-like flowers and lobed leaves in a rosette.



Thanks, WikiMedia!

The two genera were formerly one, but Scorzoneroides was recently split off. Originally native to Eurasia and North Africa, but many species have spread worldwide, especially in grassy areas. The name (attested since the 18th century) is supposedly a combination of hawk(weed) + (devil's)-bit, the former being a flower with a similar appearence, but the latter looks completely different, and I'm not quickly finding an explanation ... so IDK.

Fun fact: I found this word in a collection of poems about nature ... in the section on animals, rather than the one about plants/flowers.

---L.

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

Fun fact: I found this word in a collection of poems about nature ... in the section on animals, rather than the one about plants/flowers.

A juxtaposition that brings to mind the animal-plant fusions of artist Una Woodruff, often involving plants whose names reference animals, and rendered as if Maria Sybilla Merian had illustrated medieval bestiaries:

https://arthive.net/res/media/img/oy1000/work/258/25976@2x.jpg
https://arthive.net/res/media/img/oy1200/work/2d4/25882@2x.jpg

More on Woodruff’s work and its roots in cryptozoological and cryptobotanical folklore:

https://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/06/flower-generated-birds-and-turtles-that.html

[prettygoodword]

Neat!