any of several Eurasian vines of the genus Cynanchum, esp C. nigrum, having small brownish-purple flowers: family Asclepiadaceae
2.
a related European herbaceous plant, Vincetoxicum officinale (or Cynanchum vincetoxicum), having an emetic root
3. another name for greater celandine
Word origin
C16: so called because the shape of its pod is reminiscent of a flying swallow
swallowwort in American English
(ˈswɑloʊˌwɜrt)
noun
1.
celandine (sense 1)
2.
any of several plants of the milkweed family, as black swallowwort (Cynanchum nigrum), a twining European vine with purplish-brown flowers, now wild in the E U.S.