Australian hare's foot
- noun
- Australian
:
pie de conejo australiano
- Botanists admire the distinctive, hairy rhizomes of the Australian hare's foot for their resemblance to a hare's foot.
Examples
-
The Australian hare's foot thrives in well-drained soil and indirect sunlight in home gardens.
-
She decorated her living room with a potted Australian hare's foot to bring some greenery indoors.
-
The Australian hare's foot is a unique fern.
-
I saw an Australian hare's foot at the botanical garden.
-
Botanists admire the distinctive, hairy rhizomes of the Australian hare's foot for their resemblance to a hare's foot.
-
She decorated her living room with a potted Australian hare's foot to bring some greenery indoors.
-
The Australian hare's foot thrives in well-drained soil and indirect sunlight in home gardens.
Synonyms
A fern with soft brown hairy stems that creep along the ground and delicate leaves
A fern with soft grey hairy roots that look like a hare's foot
Surface Forms
Morphology
Australian + hare's + foot
The phrase combines transparent constituents ('Australian', 'hare's', 'foot') so a learner would likely infer something related to a hare's foot from Australia or something that resembles it. However the established meaning — the common name for a fern species — is a metaphorical/lexicalized use that a B1 learner would not reliably infer as a plant name from the parts alone. Because the relation to the constituents is visible but the specific referent (a fern species) is not fully predictable, it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Australian hare's foot comes from the fern's hairy root stems that look like a small hare's foot. That's why the name helps you picture this plant and its furry, creeping roots.
