ageratum

[In Ger. & Dan. ageratum; Fr. agérate; Sp., Port., & Ital. agerato; fr. Lat. ager at on, Gr. ἀγήρατον ( ager at on ) = some plant or other which does not grow old: à, priv.; and γῆρας ( ger as ) = old age. So called because it does not soon decav.) A genus of plants belonging to the order Asteraceæ, or Composites, the sub-order Tubulifloræ, and the tribe or section Vernon i aceæ. A. mexicanum, a plant with bluish or occasionally with white heads, is cultivated in this country as a border plant; other species are le frequently seen. *a-ger-dows, a. [AIGRE-DOULCE.] Keen, biting, severe. "He wrote an epitaph for his gravestone With wordes devoute and sentence ayerdows." Skelton : Works , i. 411.