compass plant

American  

noun

1. any of various plants having leaves that tend to lie in a plane at right angles to the strongest light, hence usually north and south, especially Silphium laciniatum.

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compass plant British  

noun

1. Also called: rosinweed.  a tall plant, Silphium laciniatum, of central North America, that has yellow flowers and lower leaves that tend to align themselves at right angles to the strongest light, esp in a north-south plane: family Asteraceae (composites)

2. any of several similar plants

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Etymology

Origin of compass plant

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

I never seen but one good compass plant, an' that was the prairie Golden Rod.

From Two Little Savages Being the adventures of two boys who lived as Indians and what they learned by Seton, Ernest Thompson

Away in Texas there is a little plant called the compass plant, and the Indians, even in the night, can tell by feeling its leaves the direction in which they are going.

From The Little Missis by Skinner, Charlotte

The well-known dispute as to the "compass plant" has recently been settled by Mr. Meehan in a manner which recalls the opinions of judicial officers who deal with other than scientific questions.

From The Galaxy, April, 1877 Vol. XXIII.—April, 1877.—No. 4. by Various

We saw also the compass plant, and the western tea plant.

From Summer on the Lakes, in 1843 by Fuller, Margaret