(Persicaria maculata) having clusters of small pinkish flowers and usually a dark blotch near the center of the leaf.' name='description'> lady's thumb - definition and meaning

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A weedy perennial plant (Persicaria maculata) having clusters of small pinkish flowers and usually a dark blotch near the center of the leaf.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) An annual weed (Polygonum Persicaria), having a lanceolate leaf with a dark spot in the middle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The invasive perennial plant Persicaria maculosa

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Possibly from the belief that the blotch was left by the Virgin Mary when she pinched a leaf and rejected it while looking for water pepper, a similar plant that lacks the blotch and is used as a condiment .]

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