Current status: researching the word "possumhaw".
Conversation
Notices
-
Embed this notice
Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 16-Nov-2023 13:36:09 JST Evan Prodromou -
Embed this notice
Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 16-Nov-2023 13:38:59 JST Evan Prodromou As far as I can tell, the name applied first to deciduous holly, Ilex deciduata.
It seems to have been applied to Viburnum nudum by analogy.
But I'm not sure.
As far as I can tell, it's not ever used for Ilex verticillata -- I think that's a mistake in Wiktionary.
-
Embed this notice
Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 16-Nov-2023 13:40:47 JST Evan Prodromou It sounds a lot like an Algonquian word. There aren't any good etymologies, although Wiktionary tries "possum + haw", where "haw" is an old English word for "hawthorn", which seems pretty weak.
-
Embed this notice