bloodroot Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun perennial woodland native of North America having a red root and red sap and bearing a solitary lobed leaf and white flower in early spring and having acrid emetic properties; rootstock used as a stimulant and expectorant
    Sanguinaria canadensis; puccoon; tetterwort; redroot.

WordNet

Blood"root` noun
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A plant (Sanguinaria Canadensis), with a red root and red sap, and bearing a pretty, white flower in early spring; -- called also puccoon, redroot, bloodwort, tetterwort, turmeric, and Indian paint. It has acrid emetic properties, and the rootstock is used as a stimulant expectorant. See Sanguinaria. ✍ In England the name is given to the tormentil, once used as a remedy for dysentery.

Webster 1913