Bot. [mod.L. (Linnæus, 1737), f. the name of the Belgian physician and anatomist, Adrian Spigelius (1578–1625).] A genus of plants belonging to the order Loganiaceæ or worm-grass; a plant of this genus, esp. Spigelia marilandica, the pink-root of the Southern U.S., the roots and leaves of which are used medicinally. Also attrib.
1822–7. Good, Study Med. (1829), I. 364. In the latter we may place … the spigelias, and scabiosa Indica.
1847. Darlington, Amer. Weeds, etc. (1860), 165. Maryland Spigelia. Carolina or Indian Pink.
1861. Bentley, Man. Bot., 591. Loganiaceæ. The Spigelia or Strychnos Order.
1875. H. C. Wood, Therap. (1879), 600. Spigelia is a most efficient remedy in cases of the round-worm.
