alburnum
(ælˈbɜːnəm)
[a. L. alburnum, f. alb-us white.]
The whiter, softer, and more recently formed wood in exogenous trees, between the bark and heart-wood; the sap-wood.
| 1664 Evelyn Silva (1776) 524 That whiter, softer, fatty part called by the antients Alburnum. 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. 96 Sap-wood or alburnum. 1809 Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 793/1 The buds of trees invariably spring from their Alburnum. 1872 Macmillan True Vine iii. 121 The branch, in its most vital part, must come into closest contact with the vine in its most vital part,..the two alburnums and the two libers. |