red osier

American  

noun

1. Also called red-osier dogwood.  a North American dogwood, Cornus sericea (orC. stolonifera ), having red twigs and branches and white fruits.

2. any willow having reddish twigs and branches used for basketry or wickerwork.

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red osier British  

noun

1. any of several willow trees that have red twigs used for basketwork

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Etymology

Origin of red osier

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

red osier

Again the speckled trunks of the balm poplars struck my eye, now interspersed with the scarlet stems of the red osier dogwood.

From Over Prairie Trails by Frederick Philip Grove

The conspicuous berry-bearing bushes and trees along the shore were the red osier, with its whitish fruit, hobble-bush, mountain-ash, tree-cranberry, choke-cherry, now ripe, alternate cornel, and naked viburnum.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 08, June 1858 by Various

Those spreading, pointed fingers of coral with a background of dazzling white are the topmost twigs of the red osier dogwood.

From Some Winter Days in Iowa by Frederick John Lazell

Cornel, red osier Whitish, berries white Damp New England pastures.

From Harper's Young People, June 8, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly by Various

There grew the beaked hazel, rue seven feet high, and red osier, whose bark the Indian said was good to smoke, "tobacco before white people came to this country, Indian tobacco."

From Canoeing in the wilderness by Henry David Thoreau