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cape forget-me-not

cape forget-me-not

8.9
A plant from southern Africa with bright blue flowers often grown in gardens
  • noun
  • South African
translation icon : no me olvides de Cabo
  • The cape forget-me-not blooms beautifully in spring.

Examples

  • I planted several cape forget-me-nots along the walkway for a colorful border.

  • The cape forget-me-not adds a splash of bright blue to many spring gardens.

  • Gardeners often choose the cape forget-me-not for its vibrant flowers and easy maintenance.

  • Look at that cape forget-me-not!

  • Gardeners often choose the cape forget-me-not for its vibrant flowers and easy maintenance.

  • I planted several cape forget-me-nots along the walkway for a colorful border.

  • The cape forget-me-not adds a splash of bright blue to many spring gardens.

Synonyms

Anchusa capensis
vscape forget-me-not
  • Specialized
9.9

A flowering plant with bright blue flowers and white centers

is the common ornamental name focusing on garden use and colour range

Surface Forms

Morphology

cape + forget-me-not

This is a compositional place + species name: 'cape' specifies the geographic origin and 'forget-me-not' is a known plant name, so the phrase denotes a forget-me-not from the Cape region (southern Africa). Such place-modified plant names are cross-linguistically common and therefore predictable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The plant cape forget-me-not is named for the Cape area of South Africa, where it comes from, and the old flower name forget-me-not, used for small blue flowers people gave to ask someone to 'remember' them. So the name points to a bright garden flower from the Cape that reminds people to 'remember'.