seneca snakeroot

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

Seneca snakeroot
    n 1: eastern North American plant having a terminal cluster of
         small white flowers and medicinal roots [syn: {Seneca
         snakeroot}, {Seneka snakeroot}, {senga root}, {senega
         root}, {senega snakeroot}, {Polygala senega}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Senecas \Sen"e*cas\, n. pl.; sing. {Seneca}. (Ethnol.)
   A tribe of Indians who formerly inhabited a part of Western
   New York. This tribe was the most numerous and most warlike
   of the Five Nations.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Seneca grass}(Bot.), holy grass. See under {Holy}.

   {Seneca eil}, petroleum or naphtha.

   {Seneca root}, or {Seneca snakeroot} (Bot.), the rootstock of
      an American species of milkworth ({Polygala Senega})
      having an aromatic but bitter taste. It is often used
      medicinally as an expectorant and diuretic, and, in large
      doses, as an emetic and cathartic. [Written also {Senega
      root}, and {Seneka root}.]
      [1913 Webster]