phytolacca

See also: Phytolacca

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

From New Latin phytolacca, from Ancient Greek φῠτόν (phutón, “plant”) + Italian lacca (“crimson lake”).

Noun

phytolacca (plural phytolaccas)

1. (botany) Any of the genus Phytolacca of herbaceous plants; the poke or pokeweed. [from 18th c.]
   • 1801 May, Hester Lynch Piozzi, Thraliana, volume II,1:

     Phytolacca or Pokeweed is a domestic Plant in Virginia and New York, grows in all their Plantations.