Meanings
- South Africano pluralrareDodonaea thunbergii; Dodonaea angustifolia.
Ysterbossie 5 1 (in a table of indigenous plants used as medicines)
1996, M Ferreira with K Charlton and L Impey, “Traditional medicinal use of indigenous plants by older coloureds in the Western Cape”, in Indigenous knowledge and its uses in southern Africa, page 953 more examples
D. viscosa is from India. Our native D. thunbergii — the Yyster-bossie or Sand-olien — is very similar, and should prove […]
1910: South Africa Department of Forestry, Bulletin, № 1–29, page 82 (Government Printing and Stationery Office)The Renosterbos (Elytropappus rhinocerotis) is sometimes dominant here and the Ysterbos (Dodonea viscosa) is also abundant.
1980, Trees in South Africa: Volumes 32-35, published by the Tree Society of Southern Africa, Arboricultural Society of South AfricaShe bends over the bright feathery foliage to check, yes it is ysterbos, an infallible remedy for kidney disorders, and for something else, but she can't remember other than that the old people treasured their bunches of dried ysterbos.
1988, Upstream, page 10Synonyms: sand olive, sandolien, ysterhout
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDodonaea thunbergii; Dodonaea angustifolia.
Origin
- Afrikaansysterbos
- Englishysterbos
From Afrikaans ysterbos.
More words from Afrikaans
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
ysterbos. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ysterbos
“ysterbos.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ysterbos. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ysterbos,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ysterbos.
Source: ysterbos on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.