Why was it called an old man?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

August 8, 2003

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Common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris Linnaeus) is an invasive species native to Eurasia. In A Modern Herbal (1931), Mrs. Grieve wrote, "The name Groundsel is of old origin, being derived from the Anglo-Saxon groundeswelge, meaning literally, 'ground swallower', referring to the rapid way the weed spreads."

Joseph Pitton De Tournefort
Giclee Print by Figuier

The Century Unabridged Dictionary (1889), states this is the commonly held belief on the derivation of the name, "...alluding to its abundant growth...but [it is] really a perversion of the earlier gundeswilge, in earliest form, gundaeswelgan, literally, 'pus-swallower'." The name may well have been a reference to its use as a poultice on various swellings like glands infected with tuberculin bacteria, the King's Evil. (See Herbal Folklore, August 4, 2003)

In Gerard's day, the plant was known as Erigerum. In 1597, John Gerard mentioned "Groundsel is called...in Latine, Senecio, because it waxeth old quickly...." (The Herbal, 1633 edition) Senecio comes from the Latin, senex, meaning old or old man. (It is also the source of our words senior and senate.)

Botanical Table after Carl Von Linne and after Joseph Pitton De Tournefort, Late 18th Century

Tournefort created a system of classifying plants by the shape
of the flower's corolla, a system in use until the 1750s.
Botanical Table Carl Von Linne and Joseph Pitton De Tournefort,
Late 18th Century
Framed Art Print French School
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In 1700, French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort took the groundsels back to their Latin name. According to the 1889 Century Unabridged Dictionary, Senecio was named for the receptacle after the seeds have blown away on the wind; an "allusion to the receptacle, which is naked and resembles a bald head; an old man...."

Tournefort created a system of classifying plants by the shape of the flower's corolla, a system in use until the 1750s. He delineated the concept of genus and species, and did exhaustive illustrations and descriptions of genera. Linnaeus retained the name, Senecio, in deference to the botanist.

The Catholic Encyclopedia has a brief article on Tournefort and his contributions to botany. To learn more about Tournefort, click on the link:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14799a.htm

The Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida has three images of common groundsel, Senecio vulgaris. To view the photographs, click on the link:

http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/main.asp?plantID=1806

Click on the Images tab and on the thumbnails to enlarge the images. Note in the third photograph the naked receptacles resembling bald heads.

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