the.com/pennyroyal
A minty herb so toxic it became a folk abortifacient and a deadly cautionary tale.
means A small, strongly aromatic mint (Mentha pulegium, or the related American Hedeoma pulegioides) whose pungent oil has long been used to repel insects and, dangerously, as a folk remedy and abortifacient.
from From Anglo-Norman puliol real, 'royal thyme/mint,' which English chewed down to 'pennyroyal' by folk reshaping into the familiar words 'penny' and 'royal.' The first part traces back to Latin pulegium, the Roman name for the herb, itself thought to derive from pulex, 'flea' — because the plant was burned and strewn to drive fleas away. So buried in the name is a tiny insect war: a flea-banishing 'royal' mint, its grandeur entirely accidental.
- deadly dose
- Its oil can cause fatal liver failure
- flea fighter
- Name means flea-banisher in old Latin
- nirvana track
- Kurt Cobain wrote a song titled Pennyroyal Tea
- smells minty
- Member of the mint family, deceptively pleasant
- ancient use
- Romans flavored wine and dishes with it
pennyroyal mint plant — mentha pulegium, toxic herb historically used as abortifacient, caused deaths including a 1978 case in tennessee
american pennyroyal — hedeoma pulegioides, native north american species with similar toxicity, documented fatal poisoning in 1994