The article is concerned with the study of Old English complex plant names with the element wyrt (“herb” in contemporary English) which are most frequently used in the texts of this period. These plant names are studied from the perspective of semantics and etymology: their meaning, origin and cognates, mostly in other Germanic languages and Russian, are analysed. In addition, some examples of the usage of these plant names in Old English medical texts are given. On the basis of the material considered in the article some conclusions are drawn