snake-woodn.
1.
a. A tree or shrub belonging to the genus Strychnos, esp. S. colubrina of the East Indies; the wood of one or other of these trees used as a remedy for snake-poison.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > antidote > [noun] > antidotes to snake-bite > plant or plant-derived
snake-wood1598
snake-weed1631
snake-root1635
contrayerva1648
Virginia snake-root1694
senega1738
mungo root1741
guaco1834
master weed1843
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > other non-British medicinal trees or shrubs
snake-wood1598
velvet-leaf1707
macary bittera1726
majoa1726
ahuehuete1778
cucumber-tree1784
bilimbi1790
rohuna1829
chaulmoogra1832
juriballi1834
horse-cassia1864
yaw-weed1864
cundurango1871
Chile senna1874
cancer bush1888
quinine tree1905
kankerbos1913
hydnocarpus1928
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. lxxv. 121/1 Snakewood is most in the Island of Seylon: it is a lowe Tree: the roote thereof being the Snake-woode is of colour white.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 507 Snakewood groweth in Seylon, and is good against the stinging of Snakes and other poyson.
1712 Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 347 The first Figure is of a Wood from India,..Lignum Colubrinum, or Snake-Wood.
1836 J. M. Gully tr. F. Magendie Formulary (ed. 2) 6 Nux vomica, the Javanese poison, and the snake-wood all owe their violent action on animals to strychnia [and] brucia.
1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. ii. iii. 592 The wood of S[trychnos] colubrina and S. ligustrina is employed in certain parts of Asia as an antidote to the bites of poisonous snakes, hence it is known under the name of Lignum Colubrinum or Snake-wood.
b. The East Indian plant Ophioxylon serpentinum.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > rauwolfia
rauwolfia1739
snake-wood1835
snake-root1955
1835 G. T. Burnett Outl. Bot. II. 1016 Ophioxylon serpentinum is one of the snake-woods, which in various parts of India are affirmed to be antidotes to the bites of poisonous reptiles.
2. One or other of various trees formerly classed under the genus Colubrina, or of the West Indian trees Cecropia peltata, the trumpet tree, and Plumieria rubra, the red jasmine.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > names applied to various species of trees or shrubs > [noun]
purslanec1400
mast tree1597
laburnum1693
whitebark1700
jatropha1754
quince1794
honey bush1813
snake-wood1832
ake1835
akeake1841
fire tree1851
flame-tree1866
subtree1878
1832 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gardening & Bot. II. 36/1 Colubrina ferruginea... This tree is called Bois couleuvre or Snake-wood in Martinique.
1832 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gardening & Bot. II. 36/1 Reclined-branched Snake-wood [and many other species].
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Snake-wood, a name applied both to the Cecropia peltata, and the Plumeria rubra.
1864 A. H. R. Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Indian Islands 787/2 Snake-wood,..Colubrina ferruginosa.
3. The wood of the South American timber-tree Brosimum Aubletii (or Piratinera guianensis), so called from its snake-like markings; letter-wood; also, the tree producing this wood.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > woods with specific markings
speckle-wood1619
speckled wood1656
pigeon wood?1740
zebrawood1768
snake-wood1843
tiger-wood1858
tortoise-wood1866
zebrano1908
zingana1911
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > non-British timber trees > [noun] > of South America or West Indies
sweetwood1607
mastic1657
acajou1666
bastard locust tree1670
bastard locust tree1670
alligator wood1696
muskwood1696
lancewood1697
rodwood1716
cog-wood1725
soapwood1733
down tree?1740
pigeon plum1743
break-axe tree1756
horse-wood1756
loblolly whitewood1756
Spanish elm1756
trumpet-tree1756
ahuehuete1778
ocote1787
locust tree1795
Madeira wood1796
peroba1813
roble1814
louro1816
cecropia1824
purple heart1825
wallaba1825
trumpet-wood1836
gumbo-limbo1837
poui1838
quebracho1839
snake-wood1843
yacca1843
horseflesh wood1851
necklace tree1858
Honduras rosewood1860
turanira1862
softwood1864
wattle-wood1864
balsa tree1866
primavera1871
rauli1874
lemon-wood1879
wheel-tree1882
Spanish stopper1883
gurgeon-stopper1884
pinkwood-tree1884
stopper1884
sloth-tree1885
imbaubaa1893
Spanish cedar1907
amarant1909
Parana pine1916
imbuya1919
mastic-bully1920
banak1921
timbo1924
becuiba1934
1843 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. 106 Snake-wood is scarce in England, and chiefly used for the most expensive walking-sticks.
1851 Art Jrnl. Illustr. Catal. ii. p. vii/1 The beautiful snake-wood is the timber of a Brosimum.
1880 C. E. Bessey Bot. 490 The beautifully mottled and streaked Snakewood, much prized by cabinetmakers, and for making bows.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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