broom tree
- noun
:
retama
- The broom tree flourishes in dry, rocky soils across the European countryside.
Examples
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In the spring, the broom tree is covered with bright yellow flowers.
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She sheltered beneath a broom tree during her hike on the moor.
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The broom tree is known for its bright yellow flowers.
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Many broom trees grow in the moors of New England.
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While hiking in the moors, she spotted a beautiful broom tree with bright yellow flowers.
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The broom tree grew tall and prickly, providing shelter for small animals in the wild.
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In spring, the broom tree blossomed, filling the air with a sweet fragrance across the landscape.
Synonyms
9
5.0
A shrub with thin green stems and yellow flowers that helps hold soil
A prickly bush with bright yellow flowers that grows on moors
A small prickly shrub with bright yellow flowers that grows on moors
A prickly bush with bright yellow flowers that grows on moors
A shrub with bright yellow flowers from western Europe called broom
A shrub from western Europe with bright yellow flowers grown in gardens
A bush with bright yellow flowers often grown in gardens
A small bush with stiff or spiny branches that often has bright yellow spring flowers
A small bush or tree with bright yellow flowers that grows wild in Mediterranean areas
A shrub with slender green branches and bright yellow flowers often grown in gardens
A small upright bush with bright yellow flowers that grows in warm parts of Europe
A low shrub from Europe with leaves of three small parts and pale yellow flowers
Low European shrub with leaves in groups of three and pale yellow flowers
A low European bush with leaves in groups of three and pale yellow flowers
A low shrub from Europe with leaves in groups of three and pale yellow flowers
A small shrub with yellow flower clusters used to make dye and sometimes grown in gardens
Surface Forms
Morphology
Combining 'broom' (a woody shrub with yellow flowers) and 'tree' signals a plant-related meaning, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer it names a plant with broom-like characteristics. However, the precise botanical sense (a specific genus of shrub rather than a true tree) and conventional usage are lexical and culture-specific, so the meaning is not fully predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Broom tree comes from people using the plant's long, stiff branches to make a broom, and the shrub often looks like a small tree covered in bright yellow flowers, so the name came to mean 'a yellow-flowered shrub'.