[a. Ger. knauel, kneuel knot-grass; cf. Ger. knauel, knäuel clew, ball of yarn: see Grimm.] A book-name of the knot-grass, Scleranthus, a weed frequent in sandy soil.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. lxvii. 97. Amongst the kindes of Knot grasse, we may well recken that herbe, whiche doth so wrap and enterlace it self, and is so ful of ioynts, that the base Almaignes cal it Knawel, that is to say, Knot weede.
1640. Parkinson, Theat. Bot., 446. The Germanes Knawell sendeth forth from a small slender threddy roote, divers small branches.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 306. Knawel, Scleranthus.
1816–43. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., I. 270. The scarlet grain of Poland … is found on the roots of the perennial knawel.
