Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Prunus"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)



{To run wild}, to go unrestrained or untamed; to live or
untamed; to live or grow without culture or training.

{To sow one's wild oats}. See under {Oat}.

{Wild allspice}. (Bot.), spicewood.

{Wild balsam apple} (Bot.), an American climbing
cucurbitaceous plant ({Echinocystis lobata}).

{Wild basil} (Bot.), a fragrant labiate herb ({Calamintha
Clinopodium}) common in Europe and America.

{Wild bean} (Bot.), a name of several leguminous plants,
mostly species of {Phaseolus} and {Apios}.

{Wild bee} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of
undomesticated social bees, especially the domestic bee
when it has escaped from domestication and built its nest
in a hollow tree or among rocks.

{Wild bergamot}. (Bot.) See under {Bergamot}.

{Wild boar} (Zo["o]l.), the European wild hog ({Sus scrofa}),
from which the common domesticated swine is descended.

{Wild brier} (Bot.), any uncultivated species of brier. See
{Brier}.

{Wild bugloss} (Bot.), an annual rough-leaved plant
({Lycopsis arvensis}) with small blue flowers.

{Wild camomile} (Bot.), one or more plants of the composite
genus {Matricaria}, much resembling camomile.

{Wild cat}. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) A European carnivore ({Felis catus}) somewhat
resembling the domestic cat, but larger stronger, and
having a short tail. It is destructive to the smaller
domestic animals, such as lambs, kids, poultry, and
the like.
(b) The common American lynx, or bay lynx.
(c) (Naut.) A wheel which can be adjusted so as to revolve
either with, or on, the shaft of a capstan. --Luce.

{Wild celery}. (Bot.) See {Tape grass}, under {Tape}.

{Wild cherry}. (Bot.)
(a) Any uncultivated tree which bears cherries. The wild
red cherry is {Prunus Pennsylvanica}. The wild black
cherry is {P. serotina}, the wood of which is much
used for cabinetwork, being of a light red color and a
compact texture.
(b) The fruit of various species of {Prunus}.

{Wild cinnamon}. See the Note under {Canella}.

{Wild comfrey} (Bot.), an American plant ({Cynoglossum
Virginicum}) of the Borage family. It has large bristly
leaves and small blue flowers.

{Wild cumin} (Bot.), an annual umbelliferous plant
({Lag[oe]cia cuminoides}) native in the countries about
the Mediterranean.

{Wild drake} (Zo["o]l.) the mallard.

{Wild elder} (Bot.), an American plant ({Aralia hispida}) of
the Ginseng family.

{Wild fowl} (Zo["o]l.) any wild bird, especially any of those
considered as game birds.

{Wild goose} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of
undomesticated geese, especially the Canada goose ({Branta
Canadensis}), the European bean goose, and the graylag.
See {Graylag}, and {Bean goose}, under {Bean}.

{Wild goose chase}, the pursuit of something unattainable, or
of something as unlikely to be caught as the wild goose.
--Shak.

{Wild honey}, honey made by wild bees, and deposited in
trees, rocks, the like.

{Wild hyacinth}. (Bot.) See {Hyacinth}, 1
(b) .

{Wild Irishman} (Bot.), a thorny bush ({Discaria Toumatou})
of the Buckthorn family, found in New Zealand, where the
natives use the spines in tattooing.

{Wild land}.
(a) Land not cultivated, or in a state that renders it
unfit for cultivation.
(b) Land which is not settled and cultivated.

{Wild licorice}. (Bot.) See under {Licorice}.

{Wild mammee} (Bot.), the oblong, yellowish, acid fruit of a
tropical American tree ({Rheedia lateriflora}); -- so
called in the West Indies.

{Wild marjoram} (Bot.), a labiate plant ({Origanum vulgare})
much like the sweet marjoram, but less aromatic.

{Wild oat}. (Bot.)
(a) A tall, oatlike kind of soft grass ({Arrhenatherum
avenaceum}).
(b) See {Wild oats}, under {Oat}.

{Wild pieplant} (Bot.), a species of dock ({Rumex
hymenosepalus}) found from Texas to California. Its acid,
juicy stems are used as a substitute for the garden
rhubarb.

{Wild pigeon}. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) The rock dove.
(b) The passenger pigeon.

{Wild pink} (Bot.), an American plant ({Silene
Pennsylvanica}) with pale, pinkish flowers; a kind of
catchfly.

{Wild plantain} (Bot.), an arborescent endogenous herb
({Heliconia Bihai}), much resembling the banana. Its
leaves and leaf sheaths are much used in the West Indies
as coverings for packages of merchandise.

{Wild plum}. (Bot.)
(a) Any kind of plum growing without cultivation.
(b) The South African prune. See under {Prune}.

{Wild rice}. (Bot.) See {Indian rice}, under {Rice}.

{Wild rosemary} (Bot.), the evergreen shrub {Andromeda
polifolia}. See {Marsh rosemary}, under {Rosemary}.

{Wild sage}. (Bot.) See {Sagebrush}.

{Wild sarsaparilla} (Bot.), a species of ginseng ({Aralia
nudicaulis}) bearing a single long-stalked leaf.

{Wild sensitive plant} (Bot.), either one of two annual
leguminous herbs ({Cassia Cham[ae]crista}, and {C.
nictitans}), in both of which the leaflets close quickly
when the plant is disturbed.

{Wild service}.(Bot.) See {Sorb}.

{Wild Spaniard} (Bot.), any one of several umbelliferous
plants of the genus {Aciphylla}, natives of New Zealand.
The leaves bear numerous bayonetlike spines, and the
plants form an impenetrable thicket.

{Wild turkey}. (Zo["o]l.) See 2d {Turkey}.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)



Note: Two or three hundred varieties of plums derived from
the {Prunus domestica} are described; among them the
{greengage}, the {Orleans}, the {purple gage}, or
{Reine Claude Violette}, and the {German prune}, are
some of the best known.

Note: Among the true plums are;

{Beach plum}, the {Prunus maritima}, and its crimson or
purple globular drupes,

{Bullace plum}. See {Bullace}.

{Chickasaw plum}, the American {Prunus Chicasa}, and its
round red drupes.

{Orleans plum}, a dark reddish purple plum of medium size,
much grown in England for sale in the markets.

{Wild plum of America}, {Prunus Americana}, with red or
yellow fruit, the original of the {Iowa plum} and several
other varieties. Among plants called plum, but of other
genera than {Prunus}, are;

{Australian plum}, {Cargillia arborea} and {C. australis}, of
the same family with the persimmon.

{Blood plum}, the West African {H[ae]matostaphes Barteri}.

{Cocoa plum}, the Spanish nectarine. See under {Nectarine}.


{Date plum}. See under {Date}.

{Gingerbread plum}, the West African {Parinarium
macrophyllum}.

{Gopher plum}, the Ogeechee lime.

{Gray plum}, {Guinea plum}. See under {Guinea}.

{Indian plum}, several species of {Flacourtia}.

2. A grape dried in the sun; a raisin.

3. A handsome fortune or property; formerly, in cant
language, the sum of [pounds]100,000 sterling; also, the
person possessing it.

{Plum bird}, {Plum budder} (Zo["o]l.), the European
bullfinch.

{Plum gouger} (Zo["o]l.), a weevil, or curculio ({Coccotorus
scutellaris}), which destroys plums. It makes round holes
in the pulp, for the reception of its eggs. The larva
bores into the stone and eats the kernel.

{Plum weevil} (Zo["o]l.), an American weevil which is very
destructive to plums, nectarines cherries, and many other
stone fruits. It lays its eggs in crescent-shaped
incisions made with its jaws. The larva lives upon the
pulp around the stone. Called also {turk}, and {plum
curculio}. See Illust. under {Curculio}.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Prunus \Pru"nus\, n. [L., a plum tree.] (Bot.)
A genus of trees with perigynous rosaceous flowers, and a
single two-ovuled carpel which usually becomes a drupe in
ripening.

Note: Originally, this genus was limited to the plums, then,
by Linn[ae]us, was made to include the cherries and the
apricot. Later botanists separated these into several
genera, as {Prunus}, {Cerasus}, and {Armeniaca}, but
now, by Bentham and Hooker, the plums, cherries, cherry
laurels, peach, almond, and nectarine are all placed in
{Prunus}.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

Prunus
n : a genus of shrubs and trees of the family Rosaceae that is
widely distributed in temperate regions [syn: {Prunus}, {genus
Prunus}]


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