pruniferousadj.
/prʊˈnɪf(ə)rəs/, /pruːˈnɪf(ə)rəs/, U.S. /pruˈnɪfərəs/ Now historical.
Of a tree or shrub: bearing stone fruits.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > plant that bears fruit > [adjective] > bearing fruit or fruitful > bearing drupes
pruniferous1668
drupiferous1775
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. iv. §7. 112 Trees may be distinguished according to their Fruit or Seed..Pruniferous.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 119/1 Pruniferous Trees..bear Fruit with Stones in them.
1693 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 17 683 We have a compleat History of that Pruniferous Tree, called Mango by the English.
1728 P. Blair Pharmaco–botanologia vii. 309 According to the Climate or Season, the male Flowers more or less abound as we see in most of the pomiferous and pruniferous Trees.
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 174 Shrubs and plants of the Pruniferous kind.
1928 E. Hawks Pioneers of Plant Study xxviii. 206 He begins with the unfortunately traditional distinction into Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees. The two latter groups are subdivided mainly by their fruits, cone-bearing, nut-bearing, pomiferous, pruniferous, [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1668