red osier

noun

Also called red-osier dogwood. a North American dogwood, Cornus sericea (or C. stolonifera ), having red twigs and branches and white fruits.
any willow having reddish twigs and branches used for basketry or wickerwork.

red osier

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

For damp ground there is no better shrub than the red osier dogwood.

Those spreading, pointed fingers of coral with a background of dazzling white are the topmost twigs of the red osier dogwood.

The immediate shores were also densely covered with the speckled alder, red osier, shrubby willows or sallows, and the like.

Cornus stolonifera (red-osier dogwood), prevailing shrub on shore of West Branch; fruit still white in August, 1857.

Before I had done with it my ribs showed through my skin and my back was like a red osier basket.

April 25, 2024firkin

[fur-kin ]

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