S. African. Also anglicized wag(g)on-boom, and corruptly vaboom. [Du., f. wagen WAGON + boom tree.] (See quots.)
1822. Burchell, Trav. S. Afr., I. 123. We passed some large trees of Wagenboom (Protea grandiflora), so called by the colonists because the wood of it has been found suitable for making the fellies of waggon-wheels.
1873. Dawson, Earth & Man, xi. 258. Cone-like fruits belonging to the Proteaceæ (… wagenbooms, etc.).
1880. A. H. Swinton, Insect Variety, 267. The … Eocene flora … as evidenced by the London Clay drift beds … shows fruits of … Australian banksias, silver-trees, wagonbooms.
1897. Du Toit, Rhodesia, 126. This region cannot be unhealthy, for the ‘sugar-bosch’ and ‘waggonboom’ grow everywhere.
1907. Sim, Forests Cape Colony, 59. [Used for tanning:] The bark and leaves of various Proteaceæ (Sugarbushes, Kreupelbooms, Vabooms, and Amandel).
