common European dogwood

8.0

A European shrub that loses its leaves and has dull white flowers and red leaves in autumn

noun

: cornis común

The dull white flowers of the common European dogwood appear early in the summer.

Examples

In autumn, the leaves of the common European dogwood turn a striking shade of red.
They planted a common European dogwood to brighten up the edge of the garden.
The common European dogwood is known for its beautiful red foliage.
I planted a common European dogwood in my garden last spring.
In autumn, the leaves of the common European dogwood turn a striking shade of red.
The dull white flowers of the common European dogwood appear early in the summer.
They planted a common European dogwood to brighten up the edge of the garden.

Synonyms

dogwood

vscommon European dogwood

11 5.9

A small tree or shrub that has showy flowers in spring and colorful stems

is about the specific shrub with dull white flowers and red autumn stems

blood-twig

vscommon European dogwood

9.9

A European bush that turns red in autumn and has white flowers

is the common English name rather than the Latin scientific form

pedwood

vscommon European dogwood

9.9

A European bush that loses its leaves, turns red in autumn, and has dull white flowers

is the longer descriptive phrase rather than the short name

Cornus sanguinea

vscommon European dogwood

Specialized

9.9

A European bush that loses its leaves and has red stems and small white flowers

is the general common label without botanical family detail

Surface Forms

common European dogwood singular

common European dogwoods plural

Morphology

common + European + dogwood

The phrase is fully compositional: 'common' (widespread) + 'European' (from Europe) + 'dogwood' (a type of shrub/tree) yields the clear meaning 'a dogwood species common in Europe.' This follows standard adjective + adjective + noun modification patterns found across languages, so a learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Common European dogwood may come from an old word dag meaning 'dagger' because the tree's wood is very hard and was once used to make small tools and pegs, so people called it 'dag-wood'. So 'dag-wood' later became 'dogwood', which is why the name refers to this tough shrub.