Oconee bells
1
9.9
- noun
- US
- The Oconee bells bloom beautifully in the spring.
Examples
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Have you seen the Oconee bells in the park?
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The glossy leaves of Oconee bells turn a beautiful bronze-red as autumn approaches.
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Oconee bells are prized among gardeners for their unusual springtime blooms.
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Botanists spent years searching for wild populations of Oconee bells in remote forest areas.
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The Oconee bells are famous for their solitary white flowers that bloom in spring.
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Gardeners often seek Oconee bells for their glossy green leaves that turn a striking bronze-red in autumn.
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In the southeastern United States, Oconee bells can be found in moist, shaded areas where their beauty can thrive.
Synonyms
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9.9
A plant from the southeastern US with single white, pink-tinged funnel flowers and glossy leaves that turn bronze-red in fall
Surface Forms
Morphology
Oconee + bell
This is a place-name + noun where 'bell(s)' signals a bell-shaped form; if a B1 learner knows the constituents (that Oconee is a proper name/place and 'bell' denotes bell-shaped), they can infer it is a plant with bell-shaped flowers associated with Oconee. Such place-based naming and the shape-denoting noun are transparently compositional and common across languages, so the meaning is derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Oconee bells may come from the Oconee area in the southeastern United States, and the word bells describes the white, funnel-shaped flowers that hang like small bells. So the name points to a plant from Oconee with 'bell-shaped' blooms.