What does "witchweed" mean?

Any of several flowering plants of the genus Striga, from Africa and Asia, some of which are parasitic to crops.

Witchweed

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
Any of several flowering plants of the genus Striga, from Africa and Asia, some of which are parasitic to crops. countable, uncountable
"1968, (U.S.) National Research Council: Committee on Plant and Animal Pests: Subcommittee on Weeds, Principles of Plant and Animal Pest Control, Volume 2: Weed Control, National Academy of Sciences Publication 1597, page 43, The witchweed-suppression program is a classic example of a systems approach to weed management and represents one of the finest organized efforts in the United States to eradicate a weed."

Example

More examples

"Drought is not the only enemy. Striga is a parasitic weed that Africans commonly call witchweed. The plant attacks sorghum and other crops and steals water and nutrients from the roots."

Etymology

Calque of translingual Striga (literally “witch”). By surface analysis, witch + weed.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.