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   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 16-Nov-2023 13:36:09 JST Evan Prodromou

   Current status: researching the word "possumhaw".

   https://www.wordnik.com/words/possum-haw

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 16-Nov-2023 13:38:59 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     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.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 16-Nov-2023 13:40:47 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     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.