madrone

American  

[muh-droh-nuh] / məˈdroʊ nə /

Also madrona,

noun

1. any of several evergreen trees belonging to the genus Arbutus, of the heath family, especially A. menziesii Pacific madrone of western North America, having red, flaky bark and bearing edible reddish berries.

2. the pale reddish-brown wood of this tree.

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Etymology

Origin of madrone

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; from Latin American Spanish (Panama, Colombia), Spanish madroño “strawberry tree,” Mozarabic maṭroño; further origin uncertain

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Compare meaning

How does madrone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• madrone vs. manzanita

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

madrone

One afternoon in June, Mr. Smith surveyed the damage to his forest, stopping at a madrone he especially liked but whose odds weren’t good.

From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2021

We gazed through a window at the tops of oak and madrone trees growing on the slope.

From The New Yorker ● May 20, 2019

Other long-lived Northwest plants also have been dying in unusual numbers in recent years, including bigleaf maple trees, Pacific madrone and Western red cedars.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 28, 2019

Firefighters described how hard it was to walk on steep slopes with brush and slick madrone leaves.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2017

I keep walking, snapping a few pictures of a madrone tree with its papery orange bark flaking away from the trunk, the new skin underneath yellow-green and satiny smooth.

From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio

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