Herb. [f. BARREN a. + WORT.] English name of the genus Epimedium, esp. of Epimedium alpinum (N.O. Berberidaceæ), a low plant, with creeping rhizomes and long-stalked tri-ternate leaves.
1597. Gerard, Herbal, cxxiii. 389. I have thought good to call it Barren woort in English … bicause … being drunke it is an enimie to conception.
1769. Sir J. Hill, Fam. Herbal (1789), 78. Barren-wort … grows in woods, and has beautiful purple and yellow flowers.
1882. Garden, 22 April, 284/1. When well grown these Barrenworts are very fine plants.
