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quandong (KWON-dong) - n., any of several brushy Australian trees of genera Santalum and Elaeocarpus, esp. S. acuminatum, with lanceolate leaves and small flowers; the edible red fruit of S. acuminatum.
The fruit, for which S. acuminatum is in the process of being domesticated, is also called native peach. Said species is, interestingly, hemiparasitic -- it supplements its own nutrient extraction by tapping into the roots of other trees. Not surprisingly, the name is from an Indigenous Australian language, in this case the Wiradjuri of New South Wales, guwandhāŋ/guwandhang.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
And that's it for this first week of Australian words I met while reading about the adventures of an entomologist -- a break for some unsorted words, next week, before I return to the topic.
---L.
The fruit, for which S. acuminatum is in the process of being domesticated, is also called native peach. Said species is, interestingly, hemiparasitic -- it supplements its own nutrient extraction by tapping into the roots of other trees. Not surprisingly, the name is from an Indigenous Australian language, in this case the Wiradjuri of New South Wales, guwandhāŋ/guwandhang.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
And that's it for this first week of Australian words I met while reading about the adventures of an entomologist -- a break for some unsorted words, next week, before I return to the topic.
---L.
