vermeerbos, vermeerbossie, noun

/fə(r)ˈmɪə(r)bɔs(i)/
Forms:
vomeer bosch, vomeer boschjeShow more Formerly also vomeer bosch, vomeer boschje, vomeerbos, vomeerbossie, vormeer bosch.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African Dutch, DutchShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch vomeer bosch, vomeer boschje, from Dutch vomeren to vomit + bosch, boschje see boschje.
Any of several varieties of the extremely toxic plant species Geigeria (especially G. africana), causing prussic acid poisoning in sheep and goats, resulting in violent vomiting; vermeersiektebossie, see vermeersiekte sense 2.
1871 [see vermeersiekte sense 1].
1905 Cape of G.H. Agric. Jrnl 716 (Pettman)I am sending you a small plant known as the Vomeer bosch, which I imagine must be an irritant poison, for it causes sheep to vomit very severely, which ultimately, as a rule, results in death.
1905 D. Hutcheon in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 357Vomeersiekte..is generally attributed by the farmers to the action of the plant known as the ‘Vomeerboschje’ (Geigeria passerinoides).
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 87Vomeerbossie. Geigeria passerinoides. A half-woody, depressed perennial of the drier districts. Poisonous (cumulative).
1930 Outspan 31 Oct. 69I have it on good authority that in years of drought the losses in certain Karroo areas due to vermeerbossie alone are enormous.
1936 W.B. Humphreys in Hansard 10 Mar. 1007The Government should take steps immediately to assist farmers to eradicate the poisonous herb known as ‘vermeerbos’, which has spread at an alarming rate...This poisonous plant..covers a vast area...Vermeerbos is a small insignificant plant which flourishes particularly in drought seasons...Twenty-five years ago the herb was almost unknown...It contains prussic acid and gives rise to prussic acid poisoning, an accumulation of poison.
1937 Handbk for Farmers (Dept of Agric. & Forestry) 441Such heavy losses as the farmers in Griqualand West experienced in 1930, have never been known before...These [early rains] caused the ‘vermeerbossie’ to grow, whereas the cold weather suppressed the growth of the remainder of the edible vegetation.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 483Vermeerbossie, A name applied to several species of Geigeria, from the vomiting (Afr.: vermeer) produced in sheep and goats browsing on the plants...This is the original vermeerbossie of the central Karoo, where vermeersiekte was first recorded in 1871...Careful observers state that the plants are most toxic when growing in the dwarf state on limestone soils.
1971 Golden Fleece (S. Afr. Wool Board) June 8Geigeria afrikana — vermeerbos.
1975 M.R. Levyns in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. XI. 214Vermeerbos, (Geigeria africana = G. passerinoides.) Small, short-stemmed perennial belonging to the family Compositae...This plant is the cause of the serious ‘vomiting sickness’ (vermeersiek) in cattle, sheep and goats.
Any of several varieties of the extremely toxic plant species Geigeria (especially G. africana), causing prussic acid poisoning in sheep and goats, resulting in violent vomiting; vermeersiektebossie, see vermeersiekte sense 2.
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verligtheid, nounn.vermeersiekte, nounn.
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