germander
/dʒəˈmandə
/noun
A widely distributed plant of the mint family. Some kinds are cultivated as ornamentals and some are used in herbal medicine.
- Genus Teucrium, family Labiatae: many species, including the European wall germander (T. chamaedrys).
- Herbs, such as germander and santolina, can be clipped into low hedges to create a knot garden.
- For example, programmed cell death in isolated rat hepatocytes has been implicated in the hepatitis induced by a herbal medicine containing diterpinoids from germander.
Origin
Late Middle English: from medieval Latin germandra, based on Greek khamaidrus, literally 'ground oak', from khamai 'on the ground' + drus 'oak' (because the leaves of some species were thought to resemble those of the oak).