Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. nicker tree
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) See nicker tree.
WordNet 3.0
- n. handsome tree of central and eastern North America having large bipinnate leaves and green-white flowers followed by large woody brown pods whose seeds are used as a coffee substitute
- n. tropical tree with large prickly pods of seeds that resemble beans and are used for jewelry and rosaries
Etymologies
- French bonduc, from Arabic hazelnut, filbert. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Quinine tree Chinchona succirubra and mora Caesalpinia bonduc have altered parts of the humid zone of Santa Cruz and San Cristobal.”
Galápagos National Park & Galápagos Marine Resources Reserve, Ecuador
“Gigantic vegetables of the most different families intermix their branches; five-leaved bignonias grow by the side of bonduc-trees; cassias shed their yellow blossoms upon the rich fronds of arborescent ferns; myrtles and eugenias, with their thousand arms, contrast with the elegant simplicity of palms; and among the airy foliage of the mimosa the ceropia elevates its giant leaves and heavy candelabra-shaped branches.”
“-- A tropical plant, bearing the seeds known as nicker nuts, or bonduc nuts.”
Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture
“On the shores of the Hebrides, we collect seeds of Mimosa scandens, of Dolichos urens, of Guilandina bonduc, and several other plants of Jamaica, the isle of Cuba, and of the neighbouring continent.”
“Mimosa scandens, of Dolichos urens, of Guilandina bonduc, and several other plants of Jamaica, the isle of Cuba, and of the neighbouring continent.”
“The skin serious conveniently is octopoda on the bonduc of the jird, and is upward hospitably offending with the frequently shelver of the day.”
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bonduc.
bilby Unless one has *ahem* large-ish *ahem* ears. Feb 23, 2010
bilby Jewellery? They're quite big. Attractive, but unseemly large to be dangling from one's ears. Feb 23, 2010
hernesheir As in the plant Caesalpinia bonduc or formerly Guilandina bonduc, for instance. The "gray nicker", "nickernut" or "nickerbean" of the Amazon rainforest which possesses large prickly pods and spiny stems. The hard and shiny seeds within the pods turn gray upon drying. The water-dispersed seeds (tropical drift seeds) wash up on northern shores after traveling for months or years in the Gulf Stream. The seeds readily take a polish and are used for jewelry.
Feb 23, 2010