noun
a tall perennial herb having spikes of small white or purple flowers; common in eastern North America
• Syn: ↑Culvers root, ↑Culver's physic, ↑Culvers physic, ↑whorlywort, ↑Veronicastrum virginicum
• Hypernyms: ↑asterid dicot genus
• Member Holonyms: ↑Scrophulariaceae, ↑family Scrophulariaceae, ↑figwort family, ↑foxglove family
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\\ˈkəlvə(r)z-\ noun or culver's physic also culversUsage: usually capitalized C
Etymology: after a Dr. Culver fl before 1716 American physician who used it for medicinal purposes
1. : a tall perennial herb (Veronicastrum virginicum) common in eastern No. America
2. : the rhizome and roots of Culver's root used as a cathartic
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1. the root of a tall plant, Veronicastrum virginicum, of the figwort family, having spikelike clusters of small, white, tubular flowers, used in medicine as a cathartic and emetic.
2. the plant.
[1710-20, Amer.; named after Dr. Culver, 17th-18th-century American physician]
Useful english dictionary. 2012.