honeybush

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

From honey +‎ bush; for the South African plant a calque from Afrikaans heuningbos (heuning +‎ bos). Compare English borrowing from Afrikaans rooibos.

Noun

honeybush (plural honeybushes)

1. Any of a group of bushes in the genus Cyclopia whose flowers smell of honey and whose leaves are used to make tea.
   • 2009 September 9, Florence Fabricant, “2 Tasty Vinegars From South Africa”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The Fynbos Vinegar, named for vegetation typical of the Cape region, is seasoned with honeybush tea, rose geranium, wild olive, grape must and buchu, a local bush.

2. Any of several not closely related shrubs that have features reminiscent of honey, of species:
   1. Cuttsia viburnea (native elderberry), of rainforests in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.
   2. Hakea lissocarpha (duck-and-drake-bush), of Western Australia
   3. Melianthus major (Cape honeyflower), of South Africa and naturalised elsewhere
   4. Richea scoparia, of Tasmania