woodreeve

[Eng. wood (1), s., and reeve.] A steward or overseer of a wood. ons, "But there was no woodreeve in the House of Commons, and so the English woods were voted to destruction."St. James's Gazette , May 25, 1886. wood-rock, s. [Eng. wood (1), s., and rock.] A name for ligniform asbestos. wood-ruff, wood-rowe, twood-row-el, *wodruffe, subst . [A. S. wuderofe , wudurofe = Asperula , odorata, .; rofe doubtful. Probably the reference is to the ruff round the stem formed by the verticillate leaves.] Bot.: The genus Asperula (q. v.), and specially the Sweet Woodruff, Asperula odorata . It is highly fragrant when dried, and is considered a diuretic. Another species, A. cynanchina , is somewhat astringent.