Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Caesalpinia coriaria

Caesalpinia coriaria

9.9
A small tree or bush without thorns from tropical America whose seed pods make tannin
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : caesalpinia coriaria
  • The bark and pods of Caesalpinia coriaria are important in the leather tanning industry.

Examples

  • The Caesalpinia coriaria tree thrives in the dry forests of Central America.

  • Many farmers cultivate Caesalpinia coriaria for its pods.

  • Botanists collected several specimens of Caesalpinia coriaria during their expedition.

  • The Caesalpinia coriaria tree grows well in tropical climates.

  • The Caesalpinia coriaria tree thrives in the dry forests of Central America, producing pods that are rich in tannin.

  • Farmers in tropical regions grow Caesalpinia coriaria for the tannin extracted from its seed pods, which is valuable for leather production.

  • Due to its hardiness, Caesalpinia coriaria is often seen in arid climates, where its seed pods are harvested for their tannin content.

Synonyms

divi-divi
vsCaesalpinia coriaria
  • Specialized
9.9

A small thornless tree from tropical America with curved seed pods

is the same species but described without noting the pods curvature

Surface Forms

Caesalpinia coriaria singular
Caesalpinia coriarias plural

Morphology

Caesalpinia + coriaria

The genus name 'Caesalpinia' indicates a group of tropical trees, so a learner who knows that word could infer this is a kind of tree; however the species epithet 'coriaria' is not an English lexical item and the specific sense (thornless shrub with seed pods used for tannin) cannot be derived from the constituents. Scientific binomial names function as proper names across languages, so the term yields only a partial, generic inference rather than the full botanical meaning.

Etymology

Caesalpinia coriaria comes from a person's name and a Latin word. The first part, Caesalpinia, honors the Italian botanist Cesalpino, and the second part, coriaria, means 'for leather' because people used the tree's pods to tan and make leather, so the name points to what the tree was used for.