umdoni, noun

/ʌmˈdəʊnɪ//ʊmˈdɔːni/
Forms:
Also with initial capital.
Origin:
IsiZulu.
The tree Syzygium cordatum of the Myrtaceae, usually found near water, which bears edible berries and provides durable wood; waterboom sense 1. Also attributive.
1854 R.B. Struthers Hunting Jrnl (1991) 40Dying shirts a brown dry grass colour with the bark of the Waterboom (Umdoni).
1854 R.B. Struthers Hunting Jrnl (1991) 64Troubled with Diarrhoea — took Infus (Umdoni) Waterboom bark, which quickly relieved me.
1951 N.L. King Tree-Planting in S. Afr. 71Syzygium cordatum (um Doni or um Swi), A picturesque, medium-sized tree with a large, spreading crown.
1967 S.M.A. Lowe Hungry Veld 93Birds of every description were chattering furiously in a large umdoni tree.
1983 K.C. Palgrave Trees of Sn Afr. 690Umdoni, A medium sized tree 8 to 15 m in height, but sometimes flowering as a dwarf shrub...Flowers: creamy-white to pinkish, the stamens being..about 2 to 2,5 cm in diameter in dense heads up to 10 cm in diameter at the ends of the branches.
1986 [see purple-crested loerie loerie sense 1 b].
The tree Syzygium cordatum of the Myrtaceae, usually found near water, which bears edible berries and provides durable wood; waterboom sense 1. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18541983

Browse Related Words

By Category

Trees

By Origin

IsiZulu
umbrella-tree, nounn.umdudo, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English