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Prunus

Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)



   {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}.



   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}.

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}.

Source : WordNet®

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