noun
Etymology: after Medusa, one of the three Gorgons, whose hair was said to have been turned into snakes
1. : an edible hedgehog mushroom ( Hydnum caput-medusae ) with interwoven hymenial spines
2. : an African euphorbia ( Euphorbia caput-medusae ) with numerous drooping slender branches
3. : a weedy rye grass ( Elymus caput-medusae ) having long bristling awns