jumping bean, noun phrase
- Origin:
- EnglishShow more Special senses of general English; see quotations 1974 (sense 1) and 1974 (sense 2 a).
colloquial
1. A gall upon the shrub Rhus lucida (see taaibos), formed by a grub.
c1939 S.H. Skaife S. Afr. Nature Notes 184A smaller, oval gall will be found on taaibos plants, mostly on the leaves. These are hollow and will be found to contain a fat white grub that kicks vigorously when its home is destroyed. These galls are the ‘jumping beans’ familiar to every schoolboy. They are due to the activities of a curious little moth.
1974 B. De Winter in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. X. 396Taaibos,..There are often galls upon the leaves of Rhus lucida, owing to a moth which punctures them and lays a single egg in each puncture...If the gall is placed on the hand, the grub inside causes it to jump, and for this reason children often call the gall a ‘jumping bean’.
2.
a. In full jumping bean tree: the tambotie (sense 1), Spirostachys africana.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 239Spirostachys Africanus, Tamboti, sandalwood, jumping-bean tree.
b. The poisonous fruit of the tambotie tree, so called when the breeding place for larvae (see quotation 1974 at sense a).
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. II. 1157The tamboti is widely known for three reasons — its fine wood, its toxic properties, and its ‘jumping beans’.
1975 S. Afr. Panorama Sept. 5The ‘jumping beans’ of the tamboti, which is also called the jumping-bean tree, are a source of great amusement to young and old.
3. The marine angel-fish Centropyge acanthops of the Pomacanthidae, being yellow, orange, and blue-black in colour.
1975 M.M. Smith in Smith & Jackson Common & Scientific Names of Fishes I. 45Xiphipops acanthops..jumpingbean.
A gall upon the shrub Rhus lucida (see taaibos), formed by a grub.
The poisonous fruit of the tambotie tree, so called when the breeding place for larvae (see quotation 1974 at sense a).
The marine angel-fish Centropyge acanthops of the Pomacanthidae, being yellow, orange, and blue-black in colour.
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