[f. SPURGE sb.1 or v.1]
† 1. The plant Iris fœtidissima. Obs.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. (1568), 171. This herbe is called in the yle of Purbek Spourgewurt, because the iuyce of it purgeth.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, 195. This herbe is called … in English Stinking Gladyn, Spourgeworte, and wilde Ireos.
1588. L. M., trans. Bk. Dyeing, 63. Take the yelow flag, some doe call it spurgewort.
2. Bot. Any plant belonging to the order Euphorbiaceæ. Also attrib.
1647. Hexham, I. (Herbs), Spurge wort, Duyvels Melckkruydt.
1845. Lindley, Sch. Bot., 114. Euphorbiaceæ. Spurgeworts. Ibid. (1846), Veg. Kingd., 275. In general the structure of Spurgeworts is very uniform.
1859. Capern, Ballads & Songs, 129. Where spurgewort and dog-mercury And cuckoo-flowers were found.
1866. Treas. Bot., 379/2. Dactylostemon, a genus of the spurge-wort family.
