noun
shrubby deciduous tree of the Mediterranean region
• Syn: ↑Ziziphus lotus
• Member Holonyms: ↑Ziziphus, ↑genus Ziziphus
* * *
noun : any of several trees reputed to have furnished the lotus mentioned by the ancients: as
a. : a shrubby deciduous jujube tree (Ziziphus lotus) of the Mediterranean region that produces small yellow fruits
b. : a tall nettle tree (Celtis australis) of the same region that somewhat resembles a beech but produces a small sweet globose fruit
c. : an Asiatic persimmon (Diospyros lotus) that is sometimes cultivated for its small rounded yellow or purplish fruits; also : the common American persimmon (D. virginiana)
* * *
lotus tree,
1. a kind of jujube of northern Africa and southern Europe, supposed by many to have produced the lotus fruit in Greek myth.
2. a nettle tree of Europe, also associated with this myth.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.