| 释义 |
ˈtea-tree
1. properly, The shrub or low tree, the dried leaves of which form the tea of commerce; = tea n. 3.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 329 Tea-tree, Thea. 1771Chron. in Ann. Reg. 151/2 The Duke of Northumberland has at this time a tea-tree in full flower. It is the first that ever flowered in Europe. 1832Veg. Subst. Food 377 The flowers of the tea-tree are white, and resemble the wild rose. 1888J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 97/2 An indigenous tea-tree..is found in Assam.
2. a. transf. Applied in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand to various shrubs or trees of the myrtle family, chiefly of the genera Leptospermum and Melaleuca, of which the leaves have been used as a substitute for tea.
(Often spelt ti-tree, occasionally ti-tri, as if a native name.) Also with qualifying words denoting different species.
1790J. White Voy. N.S. Wales 229 Tea Tree of New South Wales. Melaleuca? Trinervia. 1802Barrington Hist. N.S. Wales ix. 331 The roof was bark, resembling that of the Tea-tree at Port Jackson. 1858Hogg Veg. Kingd. xc. 350 Leptospermum scoparium, or New Zealand Tea-tree... The leaves of this species were used by Captain Cook's crew as a substitute for tea. 1866Treas. Bot. 674 L[eptospermum] lanigerum,..commonly called Tea tree on account of its leaves having been used by the early settlers..as a substitute for tea. 1885Mrs. Praed Australian Life 112 The bottle-brush flowers of the ti-trees. 1891Coo-ee (ed. Mrs. P. Martin) 282 The brown twisted branches of the ti-trees..shook their scented bottle-brush blossoms in our faces. 1891Cent. Dict. s.v., Broad-leaved tea-tree, a myrtaceous shrub or tree, Callistemon salignus, of Australia and Tasmania... Prickly tea-tree, same as naambarr [Melaleuca styphelioides, of N.S. Wales]. Red Scrub tea-tree, the Australian Rhodamnia trinervia, a myrtaceous shrub or tree. 1909Westm. Gaz. 16 Aug. 4/1 A Winter Scene in Australia... Down by the sea the tea-tree is commencing to weave its veil of flowers.
b. attrib., as tea-tree bark, tea-tree bush, tea-tree marsh, tea-tree oil, tea-tree scrub.
1820C. Jeffreys Van Dieman's Land iii. 133 For tea they [the Bush Rangers] drink a decoction of the sassafras and other shrubs, particularly one which they call the tea-tree bush. 1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 13 Building comfortable huts of tea-tree bark. 1835J. Batman in Cornwallis New World (1859) I. 406 A dense tea-tree scrub, which we knew to be the surest indication of good water in its neighbourhood. 1883C. Harpur Poems 78 Why roar the bull-frogs in the tea-tree marsh? 1933Bulletin (Sydney) 12 July 19/2 The distillation of essential oil from Melaleuca alternifolia (tea-tree) has become an established N.S.W. industry... Some 40 tea-tree-oil preparations are on the market. 1954Econ. Bot. VIII. 324/1 Tea-Tree Oil... Collection of leaf material differs from that in operation for eucalyptus leaves.
3. Applied to various other trees: see tea n. 6; in Great Britain esp. to the flowering shrub Lycium barbarum or chinense (N.O. Solanaceæ), a native of China, also called Duke of Argyll's tea-tree (see quot. 1838). African tea-tree, Lycium afrum; Ceylon tea-tree, etc.: see quots.
1777G. Forster Voy. round World I. 130 The spruce and the tea-trees. 1812New Bot. Gard. i. 113 Ceanothus Americanus, New Jersey Tea-tree. 1838Loudon Trees & Shrubs Gt. Brit. III. 1269 One species, L[ycium] barbarum, is commonly called the Duke of Argyll's tea tree from the circumstance of a tea plant, (Thea viridis), having been sent to the Duke of Argyll at the same time as this plant, and the labels having been accidentally changed. 1858Hogg Veg. Kingd. lxiv. 231 Elæodendron glaucum, a native of Ceylon and Coromandel, has been introduced [into S. Africa] under the name of Ceylon Tea Tree. 1884Miller Plant-n., Tea-plant, or Tea-tree,..African, Lycium afrum...—, Blue Mountain, or Golden-rod, Solidago odora...—, St. Helena, Beatsonia portulacæfolia...—, Surinam, various species of Lantana. 1909Westm. Gaz. 24 Feb. 5/1 The plant commonly known as the Duke of Argyll's tea tree, belonging to the same natural order (Solanaceæ) as the potato and tomato. |