Veronica chamaedrys
- noun
- Specialized
:
Verónica chamaedrys
- Gardeners appreciate Veronica chamaedrys for its attractive blue flowers.
Examples
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Veronica chamaedrys is often found growing wild in European meadows.
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If left to spread, Veronica chamaedrys can form a pretty ground cover.
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The garden was filled with beautiful Veronica chamaedrys plants.
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Have you seen the Veronica chamaedrys blooming this spring?
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Veronica chamaedrys is a beautiful plant that often blooms in spring with blue-and-white flowers.
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In many gardens, Veronica chamaedrys is cultivated for its stunning blue flowers and ground cover.
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You can spot Veronica chamaedrys in the wild, where its bright flowers attract many pollinators.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A small plant with blue and white flowers often found in meadows and gardens
A small wild plant with bright blue flowers that grows in grassy places
Surface Forms
Morphology
veronica + chamaedrys
Knowing 'veronica' would cue a B1 learner that this is a plant genus, so they could guess the phrase names a type of plant; however 'chamaedrys' is not an interpretable English word (it's a Latin/Greek species epithet) and does not contribute a describable meaning. Because the binomial is a taxonomic label where only the genus provides transparent information while the specific epithet is opaque to learners, the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Veronica chamaedrys may be named after Saint Veronica, and long ago people used her name for this small, pretty blue flower. The second part, chamaedrys, comes from old words meaning 'low' or 'on the ground', which fits because the plant grows close to the earth and makes a low ground cover.