Definition of "milkwort" [milk•wort]

• Any of various plants of the genus Polygala, having variously colored, irregular flowers with two petaloid sepals. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Of special interest are spp. of Himalayan origin such as milkwort (Lancea tibetica) and Kobresia moujr."
• "Lying on the dry brown turf, he discovered sprigs of tiny purple milkwort and pink spots of lousewort."
• "The apothecary would rearrange his bottles, moving the powdered mandrake root to the place where the tinctures of Solomon's seal and milkwort had stood."