moonwort

American  

[moon-wurt, -wawrt] / ˈmunˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

1. any fern of the genus Botrychium, especially B. lunaria, a rare fern having fronds with crescent-shaped leaflets.

2. honesty.

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moonwort British  

/ ˈmuːnˌwɜːt /

noun

1. Also called (US): grape fern.  any of various ferns of the genus Botrychium, esp B. lunaria, which has crescent-shaped leaflets

2. another name for honesty

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Etymology

Origin of moonwort

First recorded in 1570–80; moon + wort ²

Example Sentences

Thin, green marsh fern circled lakes alongside moonwort, rattlesnake fern and horsetail.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2016

But it was only a big bunch of moonwort on a stained-glass-window sill, and the wind was blowing through a vacancy that should have been a date, and making Æolian music.

From Somehow Good by De Morgan, William Frend

Divine Weekes"—   "Horses that, feeding on the grassy hills,   Tread upon moonwort with their hollow heels,   Though lately shod, at night go barefoot home,   Their maister musing where their shoes become.

From The Folk-lore of Plants by Dyer, T. F. Thiselton (Thomas Firminger Thiselton)

Culpeper, the herbalist, to illustrate the powers of the plant moonwort, tells of a wonderful incident that occurred to Lord Essex's horse, presumably when his army was here in 1644.

From Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts by Northcote, Rosalind

One could easily find a rationalistic explanation of this sentiment, of course, but it is akin to a superstition entertained in some parts that wherever the moonwort flourishes the owner of the garden is honest.

From Storyology Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore by Taylor, Benjamin