[L. arbutus or arbitus.] A genus of evergreen shrubs and trees (N.O. Ericaceæ). The name belonged originally, and is still usually applied, to the species Arbutus Unedo, or Strawberry Tree, a native of the south of Europe, long established in the south-west of Ireland, and commonly cultivated for ornamental purposes.
1551. Turner, Herbal (1568), 41. Arbutus may be called in englishe strawbery tree.
1672. Petty, Pol. Anat., 374. That part of Kerry … where the arbutus groweth in great quantity.
1752. Mrs. Delany, Autobiog., III. 121. The arbutus bears fruit and flowers at the same time.
1877. Mrs. H. King, Ugo Bassi, vi. Brushwood of myrtle, heath, and arbutus, With here and there a solitary pine.
