Talk:madnep

According to the OED

…this referred to the cow parsnip, a completely different plant. Their citations seem to back this up; I don't know what Webster's based their information on. Ƿidsiþ 18:29, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

According to Wordnik:

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. A tall umbelliferous plant, Heracleum sphondylium, of Europe and subarctic regions.

n. Heracleum lanatum, the cowparsnip or masterwort.

• H. lanatum is now Heracleum maximum ("cow parsnip").
• Heracleum sphondylium is giant hogweed.
• Current alternative taxonomic schemes are mentioned in Heracleum maximum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia .
• Peucedanum ostruthium does seem to still be called masterwort. Peucedanum ostruthium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia .

All three plants are in Apiaceae, so confusion is possible. Plant books often discuss the confusion of the two Heracleum species.

Webster 1913 has the following for masterwort:

• Mas"ter*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) (a) A tall and coarse European umbelliferous plant (Peucedanum Ostruthium, formerly Imperatoria). (b) The Astrantia major, a European umbelliferous plant with a showy colored involucre. (c) Improperly, the cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum).

--DCDuring TALK 21:02, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

Madnep seems to have been used in reference to parsnip. I have the feeling that assigning species, rather than genera or broad plant attributes to the word may convey that the term was used more carefully than was the case. Actual usage seems a little thin. We have various authorities saying that the name is used for plants, some of which are given taxonomic names, some not. I would love to proceed further, but .... Perhaps adding entries for the various species will yield some information. DCDuring TALK 23:27, 23 November 2013 (UTC)