lemonade berry

American  

noun

1. a sumac, Rhus integrifolia, of southern California, having hairy, dark-red fruits used to make a beverage resembling lemonade.

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Etymology

Origin of lemonade berry

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

Mace said she’d build a concrete house and the yard would have oak, sycamore, toyon, lemonade berry and lilac.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025

But should green native shrubs like toyons and lemonade berry be treated the same way?

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2024

Other shrubs such as currants, toyon, coffeeberry and lemonade berry have lots of flowers in the spring and colorful berries in the late summer and fall.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2021

The nameless “brush” in the reporting of brush fires is actually a complex of drought-resistant beauties that include ceanothus, California buckwheat, manzanita, lemonade berry and hummingbird sage.

From Washington Post • Nov. 16, 2018

And better than either, the lemonade berry would serve this purpose.

From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene