The story
From soldier + wood; plants of species Colubrina elliptica make a sound like that of musket fire when they disperse their peppercorn-size seeds.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
soldierwood
Today it means: A showy leguminous plant (Calliandra purpurea) of the Caribbean, whose flowers have long tassels of purple stamens. Full definition →