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Glite Dictionary
Petunia hybrida

Petunia hybrida

5.9
A popular garden flower with many colorful trumpet-shaped blooms
  • noun
  • /pəˈtjuːniə ˈhaɪbrɪdə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Petunia híbrida
  • The vibrant Petunia hybrida in her garden bloomed in shades of pink and purple all summer.

Examples

  • New cultivars of Petunia hybrida are introduced each year at the flower show.

  • The Petunia hybrida flowers attract many bees.

  • Many gardeners prefer Petunia hybrida for their resistance to pests and wide range of colors.

  • Look at those Petunia hybridas blooming in the park!

  • Many gardeners prefer Petunia hybrida for their resistance to pests and wide range of colors.

  • The vibrant Petunia hybrida in her garden bloomed in shades of pink and purple all summer.

  • The Petunia hybrida flowers attract many bees.

Synonyms

hybrid petunia
vsPetunia hybrida
  • Specialized
6.3

A garden flower made by crossing two different petunias with single or double bright blooms

is the cultivated group derived from those crosses rather than wild forms

Surface Forms

Petunia hybrida singular
Petunia hybrida plural

Morphology

petunia + hybrida

This binomial name is compositionally transparent: it combines the genus name 'Petunia' (a flowering plant) with the epithet 'hybrida' which denotes a hybrid, so the phrase literally denotes a hybrid petunia. Although 'hybrida' is a Latin form, it corresponds to the familiar word 'hybrid' (and cognates in many languages), so a learner who knows both constituents would be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Petunia hybrida combines two simple ideas in its name: Petunia comes from a South American word for the tobacco plant, because petunias are close relatives of tobacco, and hybrida means 'mixed' or 'a hybrid' because gardeners crossed two wild petunias to get new colors. That's why the name shows it is a garden petunia made by mixing species.