Dictionary

burnweed en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw- Proto-Indo-European *bʰrénuh₁e-? Proto-Germanic *brinnaną Proto-West Germanic *brinnan Old English biernan ▲ Proto-Germanic *brinnaną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *brannijaną Proto-West Germanic *brannijan Old English bærnan Old Norse brennabor. Middle English brennen English burn Proto-West Germanic *weud Old English wēod Middle English weed English weed English burnweed From burn + weed, describing its rapid proliferation in areas which have recently been cleared by fire.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Any of the flowering plants of the genus Erechtites.
   • There are also warnings of alkaloids, which burnweed contains. Eaten in sufficient quantity (but no one can tell us what that is), the plant could potentially cause harm – a warning never to ignore. 2018 July 31, Marie Viljoen, “American Burnweed”, in Forage, Harvest, Feast: A Wild Inspired Cuisine, page 17:
   • The herb cover is very open to semiclosed, and is dominated by rough cinquefoil (Potentilla norvegica*), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), marsh skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), American burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifolia), annual fleabane (Erigeron annuus subsp. annuus) and others. 1989, I. D. Macdonald, A Biological inventory and evaluation of the Oriskany Sandstone and Woodlands area of natural and scientific interest, Toronto Ministry of Natural Resources, page 62:

Forms

Synonyms

fireweed