Varnish tree Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun large tree native to southeastern Asia; the nuts yield oil used in varnishes; nut kernels strung together are used locally as candles
    candlenut; Aleurites moluccana.
  2. noun small Asiatic tree yielding a toxic exudate from which lacquer is obtained
    Japanese sumac; lacquer tree; Rhus verniciflua; Toxicodendron vernicifluum; Chinese lacquer tree; Japanese varnish tree; Japanese lacquer tree.

WordNet

Definitions
  1. (Bot.), a tree or shrub from the juice or resin of which varnish is made, as some species of the genus Rhus, especially R. vernicifera of Japan. The black varnish of Burmah is obtained from the Melanorrh&oe;a usitatissima, a tall East Indian tree of the Cashew family. See Copal, and Mastic.

Webster 1913