mombin batard

plural mombin batards

1. A deciduous shrub growing on Haiti of species Trichilia hirta (red cedar).

   Seven leaves of mombin bâtard and seven leaves of loupgarou must be picked with the same invocation.

   1966, Francis Huxley, The invisibles: Voodoo gods in Haiti, page 56

   2 more examples

   Oris was stretched out in the shade of a mombin batard tree, resting on one elbow and gnawing on a stick of sugarcane.

   1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 78

   Mombin (Spondias Mombin) is a kind of plum much prized in Haiti, and the mombin-batard (Trichilia Hirta) is the wild variety, a common Haitian tree whose leaves are believed to drive away evil spirits through purifying powers related to the plant's supposed African origin.

   2008, Rene Philoctete, Massacre River, page 231