keurboom, noun

/ˈkiœ(r)bʊəm/, /ˈkɪəbʊəm/
Forms:
keerboom, keureboomShow more Also keerboom, keureboom, queur-boom, and with initial capital.
Plurals:
keurbooms, keurboome /ˈkiœ(r)bʊəmə/.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans (earlier Dutch), keur choice, pick + boom tree.
a. Either of two small trees of the genus Virgilia of the Fabaceae, V. oroboides or V. divaricata, with pendulous scented pink to rosy-lavender flowers; keur. b. The wood of these trees. Also attributive.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 258This Tree the Cape-Europeans call Keur-boom...The Blossoms are of a Whitish Red, like those of the Apple-Tree, and of a fragrant Smell.
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 261Keurebooms-rivier is perhaps so called, after a tree of the same name (the sophora capensis, Linn.). On this kind of tree there is found a great quantity of gum, resembling that of the cherry-tree, but not so adhesive.
1829 C. Rose Four Yrs in Sn Afr. 265The beautiful winding stream..flowed beneath the purple-scented blossoms of the Queur-boom, from which tree it takes its name.
1833 S. Afr. Almanac & Dir. p.xlviiSeeds of keureboom sown at this season, thrive well, other native leguminous trees should also be sown now.
1854 L. Pappe Silva Capensis 13Virgilia Capensis. Lamk. (Keurboom)...Wood rather light and soft. Looks well when polished.
1871 W.G. Atherstone in A.M.L. Robinson Sel. Articles from Cape Monthly Mag. (1978) 90Nowhere in the Colony have I seen so wonderful a pass..fringed with green trees — keurboom and wagenboon, aloes, succulents nestling in the rock-fissures.
1887 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 130Most of the Knysna woods are of a good durable character..The woods reckoned the best are those of the Ironwood,..Keurboom (Virgilia Capensis), [etc.].
1910 D. Fairbridge That Which Hath Been (1913) 148Table mountain lifted its face towards heaven,..clothed almost to the summit with forests of shining silver-trees or sweeps of peach-pink keurboom.
1926 C.G. Botha Place Names in Cape Prov. 66The Keurboom is a tree that grows along river courses or in damp places, and bears a bright purple flower.
1955 V.M. Fitzroy Dark Bright Land 79Rafters of keur-boom taken from the river banks.
1966 Cape Times 24 Sept. (Weekend Mag.) 9A strong encouragement to other gardeners to plant slower-growing indigenous trees than the keurboom beyond which some gardeners’ thinking cannot progress.
1971 Personality 5 Mar. 83The new source of income was to be found in the keurboom logs which were brought into the house daily and used as fuel.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. II. 903Botanists, foresters, and gardeners have not yet decided to their mutual satisfaction whether the genus Virgilia is composed of one, two or three different species of keurboom.
1989 Afr. Wildlife Vol.43 No.2, 77The indigenous keurboom (Virgilia divaricata) is now found only in isolated spots, even though the river is named after this particular tree.
1991 H. Hutchings in Weekend Post 23 Feb. (Leisure) 7The faster growing kinds like Virgilia oroboides (keurboom),..and Dodonea viscosa (sand olive).
Either of two small trees of the genus Virgilia of the Fabaceae, V. oroboides or V. divaricata, with pendulous scented pink to rosy-lavender flowers; keur.
The wood of these trees. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
Dutch
keur, nounn.Kgalagadi, plural nounpl. n.
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