klapper, noun2

/ˈklapər/
Forms:
Also clapper.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, ‘rattle’, ‘chatter (of teeth)’.
1. Either of two shrubs with rattling seed-pods, Crotalaria burkeana or C. lotoides of the Fabaceae.
1911 S. Afr. Jrnl of Science VII. 269 (Pettman)It (sc. Crotalaria burkeana) is..called klappers from the character of the somewhat horny pods, in which the seeds rattle about.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 122Clapper, The name given to Crotaliaria Burkeana in the neighbourhood of Graaff Reinet, the seed-pods of which make a rattling sound when shaken by the wind.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 49Klappers, Crotalaria Burkeana...(The pods are inflated like little rattles).
2. In full klapperbos/-bɔs/ [Afrikaans, bos bush; see quotation 1971]: the tree Nymania capensis of the Meliaceae, with papery, lantern-like seed-capsules; Chinese lantern sense 2 a i; Christmas Tree sense (a), see Christmas.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 49Klapper’bos, Nymania (Aitonia) capensis. The capsules papery and inflated, often bright red.
1951 N.L. King Tree-Planting 69Nymania capensis (Klapperbos), An attractive shrub the seed vessels of which become inflated. They turn red as they ripen and hang like Chinese lanterns. Occurs in scrub in the karroid belt known as the Little Karoo.
1955 L.G. Green Karoo 14I could walk away among the driedoring bushes, the brosdoring and klapperbos.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 279Passing through the Karroo in spring, travellers often pause in astonishment at splashes of pure and vivid colour...This is the famous klapper or Chinese lanterns, Nymania Capensis...The flowers..develop into inflated fruits with a papery covering like that of a large gooseberry...These fruits give the tree its common names of klapper and Chinese lanterns.
1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo 177The spekboom, the wild plum and the klapper, now bright with colour.
1971 Baraitser & Obholzer Cape Country Furn. 75This small tree is found in the Karroo. In spring it produces pods which, when compressed, make a bang; hence the name Klapperbos.
1979 Daily Dispatch 25 Oct. 19The wild flowers everywhere are too beautiful. Bright red klapperbos, Nymania capensis, is the most striking.
1989 F.G. Butler Tales from Old Karoo 81The dry sand bank, half in shade, half sun, had a klapperbos with its red pods transparent as jelly jube-jubes on it.
1992 H. Hutchings in Weekend Post 22 Aug. (Leisure) 7Nymania capensis, the Chinese lantern bush or klapperbos,..bears pink blooms which are followed by inflated membraneous seed pods. These are green, fading to pale cream and are tinged with pink.
Either of two shrubs with rattling seed-pods, Crotalaria burkeana or C. lotoides of the Fabaceae.
In full klapperbos/-bɔs/ [Afrikaans, bos bush; see quotation 1971]:the tree Nymania capensis of the Meliaceae, with papery, lantern-like seed-capsules; Chinese lantern sense 2 a i; Christmas Tree sense (a), see Christmas.
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Afrikaans
klapper, nounn.1klauwziekte, nounn.
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