knobwood, noun

Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Translation of Afrikaans knophout, knop knob + hout wood.
Any of several trees of the genus Zanthoxylum of the Rutaceae (wild cardomum) having horn-like protuberances on the trunk, especially Z. capense and Z. davyi; the close-grained wood of this tree; knobthorn sense 1; knoppiesdoring sense 2.
[1837 Ecklon & Zeyher Enumeratio Plantarum Africae 118Fagara capensis...Lignum fruticus solidum incalae ad utensilia varia facienda adhebent vocantque Knobhout.]
1887 in Kew Bulletin (U.K.) Sept. 11Knobwood (Xanthoxylon Capense), Tree averaging 15 to 20 feet, but sometimes attaining 50 to 60 feet high.
1894 T.R. Sim Flora of Kaffraria 14The curious warted stems of the knobwood (Xanthoxylon) attract attention.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 50Knoppies’doorn...In the coastal forests it is another name for Knobwood.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 272Among the most unusual of our trees are the several species of knobwoods, easily identified by the knobs which stud the stems.
1986 Motorist 2nd Quarter 38Dense indigenous forest, unusually rich in yellowwoods,..knobwoods,..and Cape chestnuts flood the moist slopes below.
1990 Weekend Post 31 Mar. (Leisure) 7A reader at Kenton-on-Sea..who had discovered what seemed to be a borer attacking a knobwood (Fagara capensis) in her indigenous garden...Knobwood belongs to the citrus family and is notable for the thorns on its branches, which develop into large knobbly lumps on the trunk as the tree matures.
1990 Weekend Post 11 Aug. (Leisure) 4Indigenous woods, among them yellowwood, Camdeboo stinkwood, assegai and knobwood.
Any of several trees of the genus Zanthoxylum of the Rutaceae (wild cardomum) having horn-like protuberances on the trunk, especially Z. capense and Z. davyi; the close-grained wood of this tree; knobthorn sense 1; knoppiesdoring sense 2.
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18371990