A genus of Australian trees, also known as Australian sassafras or blackwood, producing aromatic wood and bark.
From Greek 'athero-' (meaning chaff or hull) + 'sperma' (seed), named for the seed structure of the plant. This botanical term was established when European scientists catalogued Australian flora in the 18th-19th centuries.
It's wild that 'atherosperma' comes from the same Greek 'athero-' root as atherosclerosis—but here it's describing seeds that look like chaff rather than dangerous artery clogging!
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