bietou, noun

/ˈbitəʊ/
Forms:
bidow, biedouwShow more Also bidow, biedouw, bietouw, bietow, bitou, bitto.
Origin:
Afrikaans, KhoikhoiShow more Afrikaans, from Khoikhoi.
Any of several plants of the Asteraceae, some toxic, others nutritious, especially Chrysanthemoides monilifera and species of Dimorphotheca, and Osteospermum. Also attributive. See also bush-tick berry (bush-tick sense 2).
1831 Cape of G.H. Lit. Gaz. 21 Sept. 224Osteospermum. Bidow.
1856 L. Pappe in Cape of G.H. Almanac & Annual Register 344Osteospermum pisiferum Lin. (Compositae) The bony kernels or seeds are enclosed within an oblong berry-like fruit which, though small, is eaten by the inhabitants and called by them Biedouw besje.
1883 O.E.A. Schreiner Story of Afr. Farm 130The bitto flower has been for us a mere blur of yellow; we find its heart composed of a hundred perfect flowers.
1914 Farmer’s Annual 131Any extra succulent plant may cause an attack [of tympany], such as lucerne or clover, and the effects of ‘bietow’ are only too well known to the majority of farmers.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 11Bietouw, (Biedouw). Several quite different plants of the order Compositae bear this name. In the coast districts it is Osteospermum moniliferum...This plant is poisonous...In Calvinia the same name is applied to a valuable stock-food, viz., Tripteris sinuata...In the Eastern Prov. it is Dimorphotheca Ecklonis (otherwise known as the Van Staden’s daisy), a poisonous herb.
1973 J. Rabie in S. Gray Writers’ Territory 169In July and August the first wild flowers already steal the show. First the rosy viooltjies, then yellow bietou and sorrel and blue bobbejaantjies, and at last gladioli and the whole spectrum of gousblomme.
1988 E. Prov. Herald 6 Feb. 5It is a good thing boug[ainvillea]s apparently do not go rampant in their adopted home like..our bietou (Monilifera chrysanthemoides) in Australia.
Any of several plants of the Asteraceae, some toxic, others nutritious, especially Chrysanthemoides monilifera and species of Dimorphotheca, and Osteospermum. Also attributive.
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18311988

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Afrikaans
Khoi Nama and San Languages
bietjie, nounn. & adverbadv.Big Five, noun phrasen. phr.
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