Piscidia piscipula
- noun
- Specialized
:
Piscidia piscipula
- The bark of Piscidia piscipula has been traditionally used to stun fish in Caribbean waters.
Examples
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A Piscidia piscipula tree produces beautiful clusters of purple to white flowers each spring.
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Scientists are researching the medicinal properties of chemicals found in Piscidia piscipula.
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The Piscidia piscipula tree is often found in tropical areas.
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Have you ever seen a Piscidia piscipula in bloom?
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The bark of Piscidia piscipula has been traditionally used to stun fish in Caribbean waters.
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A Piscidia piscipula tree produces beautiful clusters of purple to white flowers each spring.
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Scientists are researching the medicinal properties of chemicals found in Piscidia piscipula.
Synonyms
A small tree from the Caribbean and Florida with curly winged seedpods used to poison fish
A small tree with large leaves and attractive flowers whose bark fishermen use to stun fish
Surface Forms
Morphology
Piscidia + piscipula
This is a Latin binomial (taxonomic name) made of a genus and species epithet rather than a compositional English phrase; the parts are proper names (one is a botanical genus, the other is not a dictionary word), so a B1 learner who 'knows' the constituents would not be able to derive the meaning (a specific small tree used as fish poison). Taxonomic names function as labels and do not transparently convey the ordinary semantic properties of the plant to learners, so the expression is not predictable from its parts.
Etymology
Piscidia piscipula gets its name from an old use: people in the Caribbean crushed its bark to stun or kill fish, so the tree was a source of 'fish poison'.
