arbolar

A somewhat literary/nautical verb with two main senses: to hoist or raise a flag, standard, or mast (arbolar la bandera), and, less commonly today, to plant an area with trees — largely displaced by the more common plantar árboles or forestar for the latter sense.

• El barco arboló sus velas al amanecer. — The ship hoisted its sails at dawn.
• Arbolaron la bandera en la cima de la montaña. — They raised the flag at the mountain's summit.
• Antiguamente se arbolaban las avenidas de la ciudad. — In the old days, the city's avenues used to be planted with trees.

Confusing arbolar (to hoist/raise, or archaically to plant with trees) with arborizar (the modern, technical verb specifically for afforesting or planting an area with trees) — arbolar's tree-planting sense is dated, while arborizar is the word used in current forestry contexts.

Often confused with arborizar.