[burth-root, -roo
t] 
| 1. | Also called birthwort, purple trillium. a trillium, Trillium erectum, the roots of which were formerly used in medicine as an astringent. |
| 2. | any of certain other species of trillium. |
| birth·root (bûrth'rōōt', -rŏŏt') n. See trillium. |
| tril·li·um (trĭl'ē-əm) n. Any of various plants of the genus Trillium, of North America, the Himalaya Mountains, and eastern Asia, usually having a cluster of three leaves and a variously colored, three-petaled flower. Also called birthroot, wake-robin. [New Latin Trillium, genus name, probably from Swedish trilling, triplet (from its three leaves), from obsolete Swedish tri, three, from Old Swedish thrīr; see trei- in Indo-European roots.] |