A plant, particularly of the genus Conopholis or Orobanche, used historically in folk medicine to treat tumors and cancerous growths.
Compound of 'cancer' and 'root.' This folk-medical term reflects pre-scientific naming conventions where plants were named for their supposed healing properties rather than botanical classification.
Cancerroot shows how desperate human hope can be—despite having no proven effect, this plant was grown and traded for centuries because people believed anything might cure cancer when it was invariably fatal.
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