i·ron·weed

(ī′ərn-wēd′)

Any of various plants of the genus Vernonia of the composite family, having alternate leaves and clusters of purplish flower heads.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ironweed

(ˈaɪənˌwiːd)

(Plants) any of various plants of the genus Verona, which have purple flowers and are found in North America, South America, Asia and Africa

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

i•ron•weed

(ˈaɪ ərnˌwid)

n.

any North American composite plant of the genus Vernonia having tubular, chiefly purple or red disk flowers.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

ironweed - any of various plants of the genus Vernonia of tropical and warm regions of especially North America that take their name from their loose heads of purple to rose flowers that quickly take on a rusty hue

vernonia

genus Vernonia - genus of New World tropical herbs or shrubs with terminal cymose heads of tubular flowers

herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

I joined them, and Leo accompanied us at some distance, running ahead and starting up at us out of clumps of ironweed, calling, `I'm a jack rabbit,' or, `I'm a big bull-snake.'

Everything was as it should be: the strong smell of sunflowers and ironweed in the dew, the clear blue and gold of the sky, the evening star, the purr of the milk into the pails, the grunts and squeals of the pigs fighting over their supper.

View in context

Ironweed is the best known of Kennedy's Albany Cycle, which covers more than a century of Albany's history as it follows different families in the corrupt New York state capital.

Midlife crisis: contemporary life stages novels, vol. 6

7: Elderberry flowers turn to fruit, and white snakeroot, ironweed,

Poor Will's countryside Almanack ~ for ~ middle & late summer 2012

The Understory, the winner of Ironweed Press's Fiction Prize, is Erens' debut novel.

The Understory

Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep (both right) are to star together again after previously pairing up in The Deer Hunter and Ironweed. In First Man, Streep becomes America's first female president.

FILM: HOLLYWOOD NEWS

Pic, by the helmer of "The Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "Ironweed," bows here April 14, and Sony Classics will distribute it internationally.

U.S. majors samba to tax-break beat. (Brazil)

The remaining control sites during both years were situated in unmanaged pastures (not mowed or grazed) characterized by a variety of herbaceous dicots including goldenrod (Solidago spp.), ironweed (Vernonia spp.), mint species, Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), and blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis), as well as orchard grass, rescue, timothy, and blue grass.

Use of a reclaimed stripmine by grassland nesting birds in East-Central Ohio (1)

In contrast, herb-dominated sites were sparsely vegetated and dominated by smartweeds (Polygonum sp.), tall ironweed (Vernonia gigantea), goldenrods (Solidago sp.) and horse-nettle (Solanum carolinense).

Invasion of the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) in southeastern Kentucky and its possible impact on the southern bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi)

It combines the depressing gloom of Ironweed with the encompassing doom of St.

Cuomo's diary

Vernonia gigantea (Walter) Trel.: Tall ironweed; native; FAC; 2

Evaluating the quality of a disturbed wetland in southwestern Indiana: a survey of native and exotic flora at Vectren Conservation Park

The series began in 1975 with Legs; it includes Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (1978), the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ironweed (1983), Quinn's Book (1988), and Roscoe (2002), among others.

Literary