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Glite Dictionary
Petasites sagittatus

Petasites sagittatus

9.9
A North American plant in the daisy family with sweet-smelling white flowers and large leaves
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Petasites sagittatus
  • In early spring, Petasites sagittatus produces clusters of white sweet-scented flowers.

Examples

  • The leaves of the Petasites sagittatus are often used in traditional herbal remedies.

  • Botanists have documented the habitat range of Petasites sagittatus across North America.

  • The Petasites sagittatus blooms beautifully in spring.

  • Look at that Petasites sagittatus!

  • In early spring, Petasites sagittatus produces clusters of white sweet-scented flowers.

  • The leaves of Petasites sagittatus can be used in traditional herbal remedies.

  • Botanists have documented the habitat range of Petasites sagittatus across North America.

Synonyms

sweet coltsfoot
vsPetasites sagittatus
  • US
9.9

An American plant with a sweet smell, broad rounded leaves and yellow flowers

is the scientific name used for the same North American plant

Surface Forms

Petasites sagittatus singular
Petasites sagittati plural

Morphology

Petasites + sagittatus

This is a Latin binomial (genus + specific epithet) naming a species, so its meaning (a particular plant) is not compositionally derived from everyday English words; one constituent is not even a standard English word ('sagittatus' is a Latin epithet and not listed in the learner dictionary). Understanding that it refers to 'arrowleaf sweet coltsfoot' requires botanical/Latin knowledge rather than knowing the literal meanings of the listed constituents, so it would be unpredictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Petasites sagittatus may come from old words that describe how the plant looks: the first part, Petasites, comes from a word for a 'broad hat' because the plant has big, round leaves, and the second part, sagittatus, means 'arrow-shaped' for its pointed leaves. So the name helps you picture the plant as having large, hat-like leaves and some leaves with an arrow shape.