cowage

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cowage

The farmer planted cowage to enrich the soil.

Definition

Noun: 1. A tropical leguminous vine (Mucuna pruriens): An annual, woody climbing plant native to Asia, known for its long clusters of purplish flowers and seed pods covered in dense, stinging hairs. It is cultivated in some regions, such as the southern United States, for use as green manure and forage. 2. The pods or stinging hairs of this plant: The seed pods or the irritating hairs that cover them. These hairs have been used historically in medicine, often mixed with a substance like honey, as a vermifuge (a treatment to expel intestinal worms).

Usage Examples
  • The cowage vine grew rapidly over the fence, displaying its unusual flowers.
  • Traditional healers carefully collected the cowage to prepare a medicinal paste.
  • Handling the pods without protection can cause severe itching due to the cowage hairs.
Advanced Usage
  • Botanical Context: In botanical and agricultural texts, "cowage" specifically refers to and its cultivation for soil improvement (green manure) or as animal fodder.
  • Ethnopharmacological Context: In discussions of traditional medicine, "cowage" denotes the plant part (typically the hairs) used for its anthelmintic (deworming) properties.
Variants and Related Words
  • Cowhage: An alternative spelling for the same plant and its parts.
  • Velvet bean: A common name for the same species (), often referring to its use as a cover crop and for its beans.
  • Mucuna pruriens: The scientific (Latin) name for the cowage plant.
Synonyms
  • Velvet bean (for the plant)
  • Itch bean (colloquial, referring to the stinging effect of the hairs)
Notes on Meaning

The word "cowage" has two closely related primary meanings: the first is the plant itself as a biological entity, and the second is the product derived from it (the stinging pods/hairs) used for a specific purpose. The context of the sentence usually clarifies which meaning is intended.

cowage

The farmer planted cowage to enrich the soil.

Noun
  1. the annual woody vine of Asia having long clusters of purplish flowers and densely hairy pods; cultivated in southern United States for green manure and grazing
  2. pods of the cowage plant or the stinging hairs covering them; used as a vermifuge when mixed with e.g. honey

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