ipecacuanha (redirected from American ipecacuanhas)

ipecac

 or ipecacuanha

Dried rhizome and roots of either of two tropical New World plants (Cephaelis acuminata and C. ipecacuanha) of the madder family. It has been used since ancient times especially as a source of a drug to treat poisoning by inducing nausea and vomiting. The name also refers to the drug itself.

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ipecacuanha, ipecac

1. a low-growing South American rubiaceous shrub, Cephaelis ipecacuanha

2. a drug prepared from the dried roots of this plant, used as a purgative and emetic