'long-stalk' originates from a compound of Old English, specifically the words 'lang' and 'stealc', where 'lang' meant 'long' and 'stealc' meant 'stem, stalk'.

'long-stalk' changed from Middle English forms such as 'longstalk' and later came to be written as the hyphenated modern English 'long-stalk'.

Initially it meant 'a long stem or stalk', and over time this literal botanical sense has largely remained the same.