The Collaborative International Dictionary
Alburnum
Alburnum \Al*bur"num\, n. [L., fr. albus white.] (Bot.) The white and softer part of wood, between the inner bark and the hard wood or duramen; sapwood.
Usage examples of "alburnum".
Who knows what beautiful and winged life, whose egg has been buried for ages under many concentric layers of woodenness in the dead dry life of society, deposited at first in the alburnum of the green and living tree, which has been gradually converted into the semblance of its well-seasoned tomb—heard perchance gnawing out now for years by the astonished family of man, as they sat round the festive board—may unexpectedly come forth from amidst society's most trivial and handselled furniture, to enjoy its perfect summer life at last!