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Glite Dictionary
Virginia thimbleweed

Virginia thimbleweed

9.9
A wildflower with white petals and long seed heads that comes back each year
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : anémona de Virginia
  • We spotted a cluster of Virginia thimbleweed blooming by the edge of the forest trail.

Examples

  • The delicate flowers of the Virginia thimbleweed attract bees and butterflies in the spring.

  • Botanists often study Virginia thimbleweed for its unique seed dispersal mechanism.

  • The Virginia thimbleweed blooms beautifully in the spring.

  • Have you seen the Virginia thimbleweed in the garden?

  • The delicate flowers of the Virginia thimbleweed attract bees and butterflies in the spring.

  • We spotted a cluster of Virginia thimbleweed blooming by the edge of the forest trail.

  • The Virginia thimbleweed blooms beautifully in the spring.

Synonyms

Anemone virginiana
vsVirginia thimbleweed
  • Specialized
9.6

A plant that lives for several years with white flowers and thimble-shaped seed heads

means the same plant but uses a familiar descriptive name rather than Latin

Surface Forms

Virginia thimbleweed singular
Virginia thimbleweeds plural

Morphology

Virginia + thimbleweed

This is a straightforward compositional name: a place-name modifier 'Virginia' plus the noun 'thimbleweed' yields a particular kind of thimbleweed associated with Virginia. The meaning (a thimbleweed from or linked to Virginia) is directly derivable from the constituents and follows a common noun-modifier pattern familiar to learners.

Etymology

Virginia thimbleweed may come from the US state Virginia and from the plant's seed heads that look like a small thimble. That's why the name now refers to 'a small wildflower with white flowers and long seed heads'.