ringworm bush
- noun
- US
:
planta de anacardo
- In tropical gardens, the ringworm bush stands out with its large leaves and bright yellow flowers.
Examples
-
The ringworm bush is often used in herbal medicine to treat skin infections.
-
Winged bean, jack bean, and velvet bean (also called cowitch) sound odd enough, but how about snout bean, ringworm bush, and fish poison bean?
Academic text (1996) -
Farmers in the Americas cultivate the ringworm bush for its medicinal properties against bites and rashes.
Synonyms
Tropical shrub with yellow flowers whose juice treats skin rashes and insect bites
A tropical shrub with yellow flowers and large leaves whose juice treats skin infections and poisonous bites
A tropical shrub with bright yellow flowers and leaves people use to treat skin infections
A tropical bush with yellow flowers whose leaves are used to treat skin infections and bites
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'ringworm' and 'bush' can infer that this is a bush associated with ringworm (some relation to the disease), so there is a recognizable link to the constituents. However, the precise sense — that it is a specific tropical shrub whose juice treats ringworm and poisonous bites and its botanical classification — relies on extra cultural/botanical knowledge and is not fully predictable from the words alone.
Etymology
Ringworm bush got its name because people used the plant's juice to treat 'ringworm' skin infections. So the little bush became known as the plant for ringworm.
