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kei apple bush

kei apple bush

9.9
A spiny shrub from South Africa that grows round yellow fruit you can eat
  • noun
  • South African
translation icon : arbusto de manzana kei
  • The kei apple bush thrives in warm, sunny climates and produces fruit in abundance.

Examples

  • The thick, spiny branches of the kei apple bush can also be used to form natural hedges.

  • Farmers along the river have long cultivated the kei apple bush for its tart, edible berries.

  • The kei apple bush produces delicious fruits.

  • Many gardeners love the kei apple bushes in their yards.

  • Farmers along the river have long cultivated the kei apple bush for its tart, edible berries.

  • The kei apple bush thrives in warm, sunny climates and produces fruit in abundance.

  • Many gardeners appreciate the unique fruits of the kei apple bush in their yards.

Synonyms

kei apple
vskei apple bush
  • South African
9.9

A spiny shrub with round yellow fruits you can eat

is the longer form including the plant noun rather than the short name
Dovyalis caffra
vskei apple bush
  • Specialized
9.9

A spiny shrub from South Africa that produces round yellow edible fruits

is given as the common everyday label instead of a botanical term

Surface Forms

Morphology

kei + apple + bush

The combination 'apple' + 'bush' transparently suggests a bush that bears apple-like fruit, so a learner who knows those words can guess it is a plant producing edible round fruits. However, 'kei' is a local/proper-name modifier with no obvious meaning to most learners (and no dictionary gloss provided), so the full, specific reference (a particular South African species) is not predictable; overall the phrase is only partially compositional.

Etymology

Kei apple bush may be named after the area near the Kei River and because its fruit looks like a small apple. The image of a spiny bush by the river with round, yellow fruit helps explain why the name now means 'a bush with edible fruit like a small apple'.