noun
- a North American shrub with tough, flexible bark and yellow flowers that bloom before the leaves appear
Usage: botanical
Examples
- The leatherwood shrub grows naturally in moist, shaded woodlands.
- Native Americans traditionally used leatherwood bark to make baskets and rope.
- Leatherwood flowers appear in early spring before the leaves emerge.
- The flexible bark of leatherwood made it valuable for binding materials.
- Botanists classify leatherwood as part of the Thymelaeaceae family.
- Leatherwood thrives in the understory of deciduous forests.