groundsel

¹ American  

[ground-suhl] / ˈgraʊnd səl /

noun

1. any composite plant of the genus Senecio, especially S. vulgaris, a common weed having clusters of small yellow disk flowers without rays.

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groundsel ² American  

[ground-suhl] / ˈgraʊnd səl /

noun

1. groundsill.

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groundsel British  

/ ˈɡraʊnsəl /

noun

1. any of certain plants of the genus Senecio, esp S. vulgaris, a Eurasian weed with heads of small yellow flowers: family Asteraceae (composites) See also ragwort

2. a shrub, Baccharis halimifolia, of E North America, with white plumelike fruits: family Asteraceae

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Etymology

Origin of groundsel

before 900; Middle English grundeswili ( e ), groundeswel, Old English grundeswelge, gundeswelge; compare Old English gund pus, swelgan to swallow, absorb (from its use in medicine); the -r- is by folk etymology from association with ground ¹

Example Sentences

He crashed into a hill of groundsel bushes and wedged his way into their dense center.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

It ripped off every groundsel leaf, leaving the limbs bare.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

And everywhere the yellow tips of the groundsel had expanded into tiny white fluffy balls of down, strewing the empty fields, floating with the floating mist.

From Notwithstanding by Cholmondeley, Mary

But weeds were the most plentiful of all, and chickweed and groundsel enough appeared there to have supplied a whole forest of singing birds.

From The Smuggler: (Vol's I-III) A Tale by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)

Then William Hunter plucked up his gown and stepped over the parlor groundsel and went forward cheerfully; the sheriff's servants taking him by one arm and his brother by another.

From The Last Words of Distinguished Men and Women (Real and Traditional) by Marvin, Frederic Rowland