skunkbush

1 9.9

A small California shrub with smelly leaves and red edible berries

noun
/ˈskʌŋkˌbʌʃ/

: arbusto zorrillo

The skunkbush is often planted in gardens for its attractive red berries.
skunkbush sumac

Examples

She avoided the skunkbush because of the strong odor of its leaves.
The skunkbush grows abundantly in California.
Many animals use the skunkbush as a source of food and shelter.
Many hikers avoid the skunkbush due to its smell.
The skunkbush is known for its trifoliate leaves that release a strong smell when crushed.
During a hike, we noticed the skunkbush growing alongside the trail, its leaves giving off an unpleasant scent.
The skunkbush bears edible fruit, but many people avoid it due to its foul-smelling foliage.

Synonyms

squawbush

vsskunkbush

NSFW

9.9

A small bush with strong-smelling three-part leaves and edible berries

is an alternative common name for the same shrub

squaw-bush

vsskunkbush

NSFW

9.9

A shrub that grows in dry California areas with three-part smelly leaves and edible fruit

is an alternative common name referring to the same plant

Rhus trilobata

vsskunkbush

Specialized

9.9

A small bush with leaves in three parts and small edible berries

is used for the same shrub but limited to California only

How Smelly

stinking weed

Indian

9.9

skunkbush

1 9.9

scent

165 1.0

Surface Forms

skunkbush singular

skunkbushes plural

Morphology

skunkbush = skunk + bush (transparent) = skunk + bush

The compound straightforwardly denotes a bush associated with a skunklike odor or relation to skunks, so knowing 'skunk' and 'bush' allows reliable inference of meaning.

Etymology

The word skunkbush joins skunk and bush, where skunk is the animal known for a very strong, bad smell and bush means 'a small shrub'. So a skunkbush is a shrub with smelly leaves like a skunk, which explains the name and helps you remember it has a strong odor but also edible berries.