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Glite Dictionary
gumweed

gumweed

9.9
A western North American plant with sticky sap and yellow flowers that can poison livestock
  • noun
  • /ˈɡʌmˌwid/
  • Specialized
translation icon : planta de goma
  • A rare plant, Howell's gumweed, grew here and on several other ranches in the watershed.

Examples

  • Farmers need to be cautious, as gumweed can be toxic to their livestock.

  • The botanist studied the properties of gumweed for its potential medicinal uses.

  • While exploring the desert, we encountered a vibrant patch of gumweed in bloom.

Synonyms

gum plant
vsgumweed
  • Specialized
8.8

A western American plant with sticky leaves sometimes used as medicine but poisonous to animals

is an alternative common name rather than this everyday name
Grindelia
vsgumweed
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of sticky, coarse herbs from western North and Central America used in traditional medicine

is the common everyday name used for those plants

Compounds

curlycup gumweed
  • US
9.9

A plant that lives many years with sticky yellow daisy-like flowers and curled leaf parts on prairies and poor soil

Surface Forms

gumweed singular
gumweeds plural

Morphology

gumweed = gum + weed (transparent) = gum + weed

The compound is directly built from 'gum' + 'weed' and denotes a plant characterized by resinous (gum-producing) qualities, which a learner can infer from the parts.

Etymology

Gumweed is simply gum + weed, where gum means 'sticky' and weed means 'plant'. The name comes from the sticky resin the plant makes, which explains why it was used as a folk medicine but can be harmful to grazing animals.