cucumber tree

noun

any of several American magnolias, especially Magnolia acuminata, having ovate leaves, yellowish-green bell-shaped flowers, and dark red, conelike fruit.
any of certain other trees, as an East Indian tree of the genus Averrhoa.

cucumber tree

any of several American trees or shrubs of the genus Magnolia, esp M. acuminata, of E and central North America, having cup-shaped greenish flowers and cucumber-shaped fruits
See carambola
an E Asian tree, Averrhoa bilimbi, with edible fruits resembling small cucumbers: family Averrhoaceae See also carambola

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85; so called from the resemblance of its fruit to cucumbers

Everywhere the rhododendron was bloom-loaded, and the large-petaled flower of the "cucumber tree" spread its waxen whiteness.

It was a dugout or canoe, made by hollowing with axe and adz a section of a cucumber tree.

The seed-pods of the cucumber tree soaked in raw whiskey makes a first-rate bitters for all such like fevers.

It is known as large-leaved cucumber tree, great-leaved magnolia, large-leaved umbrella tree, and long-leaved magnolia.

Next to the yellow poplar, the cucumber tree is the most important species of the magnolia family, at least as a source of lumber.

April 24, 2024gallimaufry

[gal-uh-maw-free ]

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