knurly

listen to the pronunciation of knurly
Englisch - Englisch
Gnarled or knotty. Hard and misshapen

Can we this quote? Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars:It seems too much like a great tree, beautiful, symmetrical, and full of leaves, but raised or desired only for fruit, yet bearing little, and some of that little not of good quality, but knurly or bitter.

{a} full of knots, hard
{s} gnarly, full of knots; gnarled
Full of knots; hard; tough; hence, capable of enduring or resisting much