1. (torch-wood) Resinous wood of which torches are made.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XXIV. vii. II. 184. As for Tæda or Torch-wood, if it be sodden in vinegre, it maketh a singular collution for to wash the teeth withall when they ake. Ibid. (1603), Plutarch’s Mor., 685. Trees that yeeld torch-wood and pitch, as pines, cone trees, and such like.
1842. Bonar & M’Cheyne, Narr. Miss. to Jews, vi (1843), 343. The Jews [there] are much employed in gathering and selling torch-wood.
2. (Torchwood) Name for several plants. a. A tree of the genus Amyris, N.O. Rutaceæ, having resinous wood, as A. sylvatica and A. balsamifera, of West Indies and Florida. b. A West Indian shrub, Casearia (Thiodia) serrata, N.O. Samydaceæ. c. A species of cactus, Cereus heptagonus.
1866. Treas. Bot., Torchwood, Cereus heptagonus: also Thiodia serrata. Torchwood, Mountain, Amyris balsamifera.
1880. Libr. Univ. Knowl. (N.Y.), VI. 65. There are [in Florida] splendid flowering magnolias,… palmette, mangrove, torchwood.
