fever tree

noun

1. any of several trees that produce or are believed to produce a febrifuge, as the blue gum, which is believed to prevent malaria.
2. a small tree, Pinckneya pubens, of the madder family, native to the southeastern U.S., having a bark used as a tonic and febrifuge.

fever tree

noun

1. any of several trees that produce a febrifuge or tonic, esp Pinckneya pubens , a rubiaceous tree of SE North America
2. a tall leguminous swamp tree, Acacia xanthophloea , of southern Africa, with fragrant yellow flowers

Word History and Origins

Origin of fever tree¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

“A tree grows which they call ‘the fever tree’ … whose bark, of the color of cinnamon, made into powder … and given as a beverage, cures the fevers … it has produced miraculous results,” he reported.

From Washington Post

For the teetotaler, there’s the “No Booze Cruise,” a concoction of seedlip garden, fever tree Mediterranean tonic, ginger and pineapple at $11.

From New York Times

In a fever tree grove, a troop of nearly 70 yellow baboons is getting an easy start to the morning.

From Scientific American

It skirts the lakes at the bottom of the Rift and passes through groves of fever trees, yellow-green and glowing in the sun.

From Literature

Conspicuous among them was the ill-omened "fever tree," with its gaunt, bare, ungainly arms and yellow bark—the tree whose presence indicates a pestilential air.

From Project Gutenberg