tulip, noun

Origin:
Calque formed on South African Dutch tulp.
obs.
tulp.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 239African Hæmanthus, call’d the Tulip of the Cape of Good Hope.
1844 J. Backhouse Narr. of Visit 276The species of Moroea, known in the country by the name of Tulip or Tulpe, which is very destructive to cattle.
1874 A. Edgar in Friend 23 Apr.We lost 200 head of cattle through eating the tulip.
1885 H. Rider Haggard King Solomon’s Mines 51Only twelve oxen remained to us out of the beautiful span of twenty...three had died from eating the poisonous herb called ‘tulip.’ Five more sickened from this cause, but we managed to cure them with doses of an infusion made by boiling down the tulip leaves.
1903 E.F. Knight S. Afr. after War 321The tsetse fly and the poisonous tulip killed off the traveller’s cattle.
1907 J.M. Wood Handbk to Flora of Natal 128The tubers of some species of Moræa are said to be poisonous, and the leaves are called by the Dutch and Colonists ‘Tulp’ or ‘Tulip.’
1929 Handbk for Farmers (Dept of Agric.) 199The tulips contain a strong heart poison, an alkaloid.
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Tulbagh, nounn.tulp, nounn.
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