pituri

American  

[pich-uh-ree] / ˈpɪtʃ ə ri /

noun

1. a solanaceous shrub or small tree, Duboisia hopwoodi, of Australia.

2. a stimulant made from the dried leaves and twigs of this plant, used by Aboriginal peoples as a narcotic.

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pituri British  

/ ˈpɪtʃərɪ /

noun

1. an Australian solanaceous shrub, Duboisia hopwoodii, the leaves of which are the source of a narcotic used by the native Australians

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Etymology

Origin of pituri

First recorded in 1860–65, pituri is from the Wiradjuri word pi-ju-rī

Example Sentences

Nicotiana benthamiana, known as pituri to indigenous Aboriginal tribes who use it as chewing tobacco, underwent a genetic mutation roughly 750,000 years ago to help it thrive despite the extreme conditions of the Outback, says Peter Waterhouse, a plant geneticist at Queensland University of Technology.

From The Wall Street Journal

During this excursion Kennedy noticed that the blacks were given to "chewing tobacco in a green state;" but the "tobacco" was, of course, the pituri plant, which they are accustomed to masticate.

From Project Gutenberg