Lagerstroemia speciosa
- noun
- Specialized
:
Lagerstroemia speciosa
- Timber from Lagerstroemia speciosa, known as pyinma, is prized for its durability and beauty.
Examples
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The Lagerstroemia speciosa blooms every summer, filling the park with vibrant pink flowers.
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Many gardens in the tropics feature Lagerstroemia speciosa for its ornamental value.
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The Lagerstroemia speciosa blooms beautifully in the summer.
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Have you seen the Lagerstroemia speciosa in the botanical garden?
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Many gardens in the tropics feature Lagerstroemia speciosa for its ornamental value.
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The Lagerstroemia speciosa blooms every summer, filling the park with vibrant pink flowers.
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Timber from Lagerstroemia speciosa, known as pyinma, is prized for its durability and beauty.
Synonyms
A tropical tree with large showy purple flowers often grown in gardens
Surface Forms
Morphology
Lagerstroemia + speciosa
This is a Latin binomial (genus + species) used as a scientific name; the parts are a proper genus name and a Latin epithet rather than everyday English words, so their literal meanings do not yield 'a tropical tree with showy flowers' to a B1 learner. Species epithets like 'speciosa' (Latin for 'showy') are not transparently accessible to typical learners and scientific names function as labels, making the meaning non-compositional for learners.
Etymology
Lagerstroemia speciosa comes from the first part Lagerstroemia, named for a Swedish plant collector Lagerström, and the Latin word speciosa, meaning 'showy' or 'beautiful'. So the name paints a picture of a tropical tree with large, bright flowers and strong wood called 'pyinma', which explains why people grow it for its flowers and value its timber.
