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Glite Dictionary
Mount Cook lily

Mount Cook lily

8.6
A New Zealand plant with large white flowers that comes back each year in mountains
  • noun
  • New Zealand
translation icon : lirio de Mount Cook
  • The Mount Cook lily is renowned for its large and striking white blossoms.

Examples

  • While hiking in New Zealand, I photographed a blooming Mount Cook lily near the mountain trails.

  • The Mount Cook lily blooms beautifully in the summer.

  • Botanists study the Mount Cook lily for its adaptability to alpine environments.

  • Have you ever seen a Mount Cook lily in person?

  • The Mount Cook lily can be found growing in the rocky soil of New Zealand's alpine valleys.

  • During our trip, we admired the stunning white flowers of the Mount Cook lily against the blue sky.

  • In the spring, the Mount Cook lily bursts into bloom, attracting many visitors to the mountains.

Synonyms

Ranunculus lyallii
vsMount Cook lily
  • Specialized
9.9

A large white mountain flower from New Zealand with round leaves

has the same plant but is named by a different common name

Surface Forms

Mount Cook lily singular
Mount Cook lilies plural

Morphology

mount + Cook + lily

The phrase is compositional: 'Mount Cook' signals a place (mountain) and 'lily' names a plant, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer this is a type of lily associated with Mount Cook or alpine areas. The place-name + noun naming pattern is cross-linguistically common, and the capitalised 'Cook' simply signals a proper name rather than blocking understanding.

Etymology

Mount Cook lily may come from the tall New Zealand mountain Mount Cook, because people often found this plant growing on its high slopes. The image of a white lily on the mountain explains why the name means 'a large white flower that grows in high places'.