Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Supple-jack \Sup"ple-jack`\, n. (Bot.)
   (a) A climbing shrub ({Berchemia volubilus}) of the Southern
       United States, having a tough and pliable stem.
   (b) A somewhat similar tropical American plant ({Paullinia
       Curassavica}); also, a walking stick made from its stem.

             He was in form and spirit like a supple-jack, . . .
             yielding, but tough; though he bent, he never
             broke.                               --W. Irving.

   Note: This name is given to various plants of similar habit
         in different British colonies.