Betula nigra
- noun
- /ˈbɛtʃələ ˈnɪɡrə/
- Specialized
:
abeto de río
- The distinctive peeling bark of the Betula nigra makes it easily identifiable along riverbanks.
Examples
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The Betula nigra thrives in the moist soils of the southeastern United States.
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Gardeners often plant Betula nigra in wet areas because of its tolerance for flooding.
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The Betula nigra thrives in wet conditions.
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You can find Betula nigra along riverbanks.
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Gardeners often plant Betula nigra in wet areas because of its tolerance for flooding.
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The distinctive peeling bark of the Betula nigra makes it easily identifiable along riverbanks.
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The Betula nigra thrives in the moist soils of the southeastern United States.
Synonyms
1
5.8
A North American tree with peeling reddish-brown bark that grows near rivers and in swamps
1
6.5
A tree with reddish-brown bark that grows near rivers and swamps in the eastern United States
Surface Forms
Morphology
Betula + nigra
This is a Latin binomial (taxonomic) name rather than a compositional English phrase: knowing 'Betula' as a birch genus and even recognizing 'nigra' as a Latin epithet (or lacking a dictionary entry) does not make the common meaning 'river birch' or the species' habitat and bark characteristics predictable. Scientific names are lexicalized labels and their species-specific senses are not transparently derived from the constituent words, so a B1 learner would not reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Betula nigra comes from Latin: Betula means 'birch' and nigra means 'black'. Because this birch usually grows along rivers and in wet places, people call it the 'river birch', so the name helps you remember it is a birch that lives in wet, river areas.