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Glite Dictionary
Viburnum dentatum

Viburnum dentatum

9.9
A bush from eastern North America with blue-black berries and strong wood for making arrows
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : viburno dentado
  • Blue-black berries from Viburnum dentatum attract a variety of birds in late summer.

Examples

  • Early settlers valued Viburnum dentatum for its strong, pliant wood.

  • Many gardeners choose Viburnum dentatum for its attractive berries.

  • The park ranger pointed out a Viburnum dentatum growing beside the trail.

  • The Viburnum dentatum grows well in wet soils.

  • The blue-black berries of the Viburnum dentatum are a favorite food for songbirds.

  • Many people plant Viburnum dentatum in their gardens to enjoy its beautiful berries.

  • In the past, Viburnum dentatum was commonly used to make arrows due to its strong wood.

Synonyms

southern arrow wood
vsViburnum dentatum
  • US
8.9

A shrub with flexible wood used to make arrows and blue-black berries that birds eat

highlights that the wood is also tough as well as flexible
arrow wood
vsViburnum dentatum
  • US
8.9

A bush with tough, flexible wood that people use to make arrows

also bears blue-black berries and notes uses beyond arrow making

Surface Forms

Viburnum dentatum singular
Viburnum dentatums plural

Morphology

Viburnum + dentatum

This is a scientific Latin binomial: knowing 'Viburnum' lets a learner infer it is a kind of shrub, but 'dentatum' is a specialized Latin epithet (not a standard English word and absent from the provided dictionary entry) and does not allow a B1 learner to derive the species-specific meaning (berries, native range, wood use). Therefore the name is only partially transparent — the category (a Viburnum) is clear, but the full descriptive meaning is not predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Viburnum dentatum gets its name from how it looks and was used: dentatum means 'toothed' because the leaves have small tooth-like edges. Its strong, flexible wood was once used to make 'arrows' and its blue-black berries attract birds, so remember it as the toothed bush with berries and arrow wood.