: any of various senecios (such as the nearly cosmopolitan European weed Senecio vulgaris)
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebOther evergreen choices include Christmas ferns, wood ferns (semi-evergreen), moss, golden groundsel (yellow spring flowers about 1-inch tall). Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 26 Apr. 2018 Spikes and fibers protrude from the flowering head of a herb groundsel in Havi Sarfaty's second-place image. Ben Panko, Smithsonian, 4 Oct. 2017 A LUSH, LOW-EFFORT PLAN Under a canopy of tall trees and shrubs, designer Weaner created a leafy carpet of native ground covers, like groundsel, Canada anemone and heuchera. Martha Stewart, star-telegram, 12 Aug. 2017
Word History
Etymology
Middle English groundeswele, from Old English grundeswelge, from grund ground + swelgan to swallow — more at swallow
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of groundsel was before the 12th century