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black sally

black sally

9.7
A small eucalyptus tree from Australia with dark rough bark at the base that produces red gum
  • noun
  • Australian
translation icon : eucalipto negro
  • Some Aboriginal communities harvest kino from the black sally for traditional uses.

Examples

  • Bushwalkers admired the dark bark of the black sally along the forest trail.

  • The old homestead was shaded by a towering black sally near the creek.

  • The black sally tree is native to Australia.

  • Many black sallies grow in the Australian bush.

  • Bushwalkers admired the dark bark of the black sally along the forest trail.

  • Some Aboriginal communities harvest kino from the black sally for traditional uses.

  • The old homestead was shaded by a towering black sally near the creek.

Synonyms

Eucalyptus stellulata
vsblack sally
  • Australian
9.9

A small Australian eucalyptus tree with rough dark bark at the base that makes red gum

has identical botanical features but uses the common name instead of the formal name

Surface Forms

black sally singular
black sallies plural

Morphology

black + sally

This is the proper name of a specific tree species, so the overall meaning (a particular eucalyptus) cannot be derived from knowing just 'black' and a general sense of 'sally'—the latter is not a transparent common noun here and is not listed in the provided dictionary entry. Although 'black' signals color, the botanical reference is lexicalized and arbitrary, making the compound unpredictable for a B1 learner who has not seen this plant name before.

Etymology

Black sally may come from the tree's dark bark at the base, the black, plus the simple name sally that early settlers used for small plants, so people pictured a small dark tree and called it 'Black Sally'. Today black sally means a small eucalyptus with rough dark bark that often gives red gum.