behen

A Medieval Latin transcription of the Arabic بَهْمَن (bahman).

behen (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Any of various plants imported into Europe for the pharmaceutical trade in dried form, so of uncertain identity.
   1. Behen rubrum or red behen: said in some sources to be Salvia haematodes (now Salvia pratensis subsp. haematodes), but in other sources to be Statice limonium, which is a synonym for Limonium vulgare.
      • 1735, John K'Eogh, Botanalogia Universalis Hibernica:

        The roots and seed of red Behen are Styptic, or Restringent […]

   2. Behen album or white behen: a thistle native to western and central Asia, Centaurea behen
      • 1862, American Journal of Pharmacy, volume 34, page 549:

        White Behen is referred by all writers on materia medica to Centaurea Behen L., a plant of Persia and traditionally also of the Lebanon.

   3. Behen officinarum: Cucubalis behen or Oberna behen, synonyms for Silene vulgaris

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