May apple
- noun
- /meɪ ˈæpəl/
- Specialized
:
manzana de mayo
- We found several May apples growing beside the hiking trail, their leaves forming green umbrellas.
Examples
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The May apple blooms in shaded woodlands each spring, producing its distinctive white flowers.
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The May apple is often found in wooded areas.
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Although the fruit of the May apple is edible, the rest of the plant is highly toxic.
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I spotted a May apple plant on my hike.
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The May apple produces large, umbrella-like leaves that provide shade in the forest.
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I noticed a cluster of May apples near the stream, their leaves turning yellow in the fall.
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During my walk, I spotted the unique, umbrella-shaped leaves of the May apple along the path.
Synonyms
A low North American woodland plant with poisonous roots and fruit you can eat but that tastes bland
A North American plant with a poisonous root and a mild edible fruit
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'May apple' transparently combines a month name and 'apple', so a B1 learner who knows the words would likely infer it is a plant/fruit associated with May. However, the full botanical meaning — a specific North American herb with umbrella-like leaves, a poisonous root and a not-true-apple fruit — is not predictable from the constituents alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
May apple is the name of the whole herb because it flowers in May and then bears a round apple-like fruit under large umbrella leaves, so people called the plant after its fruit even though the rest of the plant is 'poisonous'.
