A low-growing plant with small yellow flowers, common in wastelands and fields, sometimes used as animal feed.
From Old English 'grundeswelge' or 'grundeswilg' (literally 'ground swallower'), referring to how the plant grows flat against the soil. The name suggests the plant seems to be swallowing or absorbing the ground.
Groundsel was so common in medieval times that people believed it could literally 'swallow' illness—it became a folk remedy for everything from boils to broken bones, despite having surprisingly little actual medicinal value.
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