Also stag’s horn. [STAG sb.1]
1. a. In pl. The horns of a stag. b. In sing. The horn of a stag, as a material.
1663. Boyle, Consid. Usef. Nat. Philos., II. App. 356. In case Stags Horns cannot be procured for the preparation.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 499. Stag’s horn and ivory are nearly the same as bone.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 121. When short pieces of stag-horn are used entire, as for the handles of table-knives, the hollow cellular part is concealed.
1864. J. Hunt, trans. Vogt’s Lect. Man, x. 263. When the articles became scarce they provided themselves with worked staghorns.
attrib. 1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Stag-horn Cutter, a worker up of deer horn for knife handles, &c.
c. transf. in pl. The bare upper branches of a tree. nonce-use. Cf. STAG-HEADED a. 2.
1879. Browning, Ned Bratts, 172. That tree art thou!… Thy stag-horns fright the sky, thy snake-roots sting the turf!
2. In the names of plants. a. The American or Virginian sumach, Rhus typhina. More fully stag(’s horn tree, sumach.
1753. Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl. App., Stag’s horn-tree, a name sometimes given to the rhus, or sumach.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVI. 228/1. The young branches [of the Virginian sumach] are covered with a soft velvet-like down,… from whence the common people have given it the appellation of stag’s horn.
1868. Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869), 201. Stag-horn sumach (Rhus typhina).
1882. Garden, 19 Aug., 163/3. The Stag’s-horn Sumach … has a very singular appearance just as the flower-spikes become prominent.
b. A kind of moss, esp. Lycopodium clavatum. More fully stag’s horn (also staghorn) moss.
1741. Dillenius, Hist. Muscorum, 309. Hypnum cupressiforme vulgare, foliis obtusis. The blunt Cypress-like Hypnum. Ibid., 310. Hisque nous est nomine Stags-Horn Moss.
1800. Wordsw., Idle Shepherd-boys, 19. Or with that plant which in our dale We call stag-horn, or fox’s tail, Their rusty hats they trim.
1844. E. Newman, Brit. Ferns, etc. 353. The Common Club-moss, Wolfs-claw, or Stag’s-horn, is the only species of Lycopodium that can be spoken of as abundant in Britain.
1855. M. Arnold, Tristram & Iseult, III. 24. Their little hands Are busy gathering … streams Of stagshorn for their hats.
1882. Good Words, 165. Staghorn Moss.
c. A fern of the genus Platycerium. (In full staghorn fern.)
1882. J. Smith, Dict. Pop. Names Plants, 390. Staghorn Fern is represented by several species of Platycerium.
1893. Mrs. C. Praed, Outlaw & Lawmaker, II. 32. It was covered with a wonderful growth of ferns, birdsnests, and staghorns, with branching, antler-like fronds.
d. (See quot.)
1884. W. Miller, Plant-n., 122. Stag’s-horn Saxifrage, Saxifraga ceratophylla.
3. In the names of insects, etc. (See quots.)
1816. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., xxi. (1818), II. 225. The staghorn capricorn beetle (Prionus cervicornis, F.) in America.
1884. Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim., 841. Among the true stony corals are the Stag-horn Corals (Madrepora cervicornis, prolifera, and palmata).
1896. Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., VI. 72. A curious representative from the Malay Archipelago, known as the staghorn-fly (Elaphomyia), takes its name from the development of the sides of the head into large branching horns.
Hence Stag-horned a. a. Epithet of a beetle (cf. prec. 3). b. = STAG-HEADED a. 2.
1853. Mrs. Gore, Dean’s Daughter, III. i. 6. The oldest of the trees;—its branches, staghorned at the summit.
1867. R. S. Hawker, Wks. (1893), 127. The mansion … was surrounded by a solemn grove of stag-horned trees.
1881. Cassell’s Nat. Hist., V. Plate 59. The Stag-horned Longicorn (Acanthophorus serraticornis).
