groundsel

¹ American  

[ground-suhl] / ˈgraʊnd səl /

noun

1. any composite plant of the genus Senecio, especially S. vulgaris, a common weed having clusters of small yellow disk flowers without rays.

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groundsel ² American  

[ground-suhl] / ˈgraʊnd səl /

noun

1. groundsill.

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groundsel British  

/ ˈɡraʊnsəl /

noun

1. any of certain plants of the genus Senecio, esp S. vulgaris, a Eurasian weed with heads of small yellow flowers: family Asteraceae (composites) See also ragwort

2. a shrub, Baccharis halimifolia, of E North America, with white plumelike fruits: family Asteraceae

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Etymology

Origin of groundsel

before 900; Middle English grundeswili ( e ), groundeswel, Old English grundeswelge, gundeswelge; compare Old English gund pus, swelgan to swallow, absorb (from its use in medicine); the -r- is by folk etymology from association with ground ¹

Example Sentences

It ripped off every groundsel leaf, leaving the limbs bare.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

He crashed into a hill of groundsel bushes and wedged his way into their dense center.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Yet we have John Josselyn’s list of these, and it includes couch-grass, shepherd’s purse, dandelion, groundsel, sow-thistle, stinging-nettle, mallows, plantain, wormwood, chickweed, mullein, knot-grass and comfrey.

From The Old English Herbals by Rohde, Eleanour Sinclair

London, Edinburgh, and Paris were dying for want of watering, and nothing seemed to flourish in Lubin's Europe but such things as groundsel and chickweed.

From The Crown of Success by A. L. O. E.

Moreover, even in the autumn he does not confine himself to grain, but feeds on various seeds, such as the dandelion, the sow-thistle, and the groundsel; all of which plants are classed as weeds.

From Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. 2, No. 6 December, 1897 by Various