umbrella tree

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Either of two trees, Magnolia fraseri or M. tripetala, of the southeast United States, having large leaves clustered in an umbrellalike form at the ends of the branches.
2. n. An Australian evergreen tree (Brassasia actinophylla), having palmately compound leaves and widely cultivated in its smaller forms as a houseplant.
3. n. See schefflera.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In the southern United States, a cultivated flat-topped variety of the china-tree, Melia Azedarach, in which the branches radiate from the main stem like the ribs of an umbrella.
2. n. See grass-tree, 4.
3. n. An American magnolia, Magnolia tripetala (M. Umbrella), widely distributed, but not common, from Pennsylvania southward and southwestward. It is a tree of 30 or 40 feet, with irregular branches, and leaves 18 or 20 inches long by 8 or 10 inches broad: these, radiating from the ends of the shoots, suggest the name. The flowers are cream-white, 4 or 5 inches deep, unpleasantly scented. The tree is fairly hardy, and frequently planted for ornament. The bark, like that of other magnolias, has the property of a gentle stimulant aromatic tonic. Also called elkwood (which see). The screw-pine, Pandanus odoratissimus, is also called by this name.
4. n. See Thespesia.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) a kind of magnolia (Magnolia Umbrella) with the large leaves arranged in umbrellalike clusters at the ends of the branches. It is a native of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky. Other plants in various countries are called by this name, especially a kind of screw pine (Pandanus odoratissimus).

WordNet 3.0

1. n. erect evergreen shrub or small tree of Australia and northern New Guinea having palmately compound leaves
2. n. small deciduous tree of eastern North America having creamy white flowers and large leaves in formations like umbrellas at the ends of branches