Obs. Also bunken, bunkins. [Cf. bunk ‘nascaptha, an odoriferous root,’ given as Arabic in Johnson’s Pers.-Ar.-Eng. Dict., 1852; not in Freytag or Lane.]
A plant (or root) yielding a drug.
1660. Act 12 Chas. II., iv. Sched., Bunkins, Holliwortles, or pistolachia.
1753. Chambers, Cyd. Supp., Bunk, or Bunken, a word frequently occurring in the writings of the Arabian physicians … it was an aromatic root used in cardiac, stomachic, and carminative compositions.
1775. Ash, Bunk, Bunken (in medicine), the leucacantha.
