squawbush

noun

deciduous shrub of California with unpleasantly scented usually trifoliate leaves and edible fruit

• Syn: ↑squaw-bush, ↑skunkbush, ↑Rhus trilobata

• Hypernyms: ↑sumac, ↑sumach, ↑shumac

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\\ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷\ noun

Etymology: so called from the use of the berries among Indians as a mordant in dyeing

1. : cranberry tree

2. : a sumac (Rhus trilobata) of western No. America with unpleasantly scented trifoliolate or sometimes simple leaves and edible fruit

3. : any of several shrubs of the genus Cornus

4. : dwarf cornel

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/skwaw"boosh'/, n.

a rank-smelling, sprawling shrub, Rhus trilobata malacophylla, of the cashew family, native to California, having spikes of greenish flowers.

[1825-35, Amer.; SQUAW + BUSH¹, so called from its use by the Indians]