cotton thistle
- noun
- Specialized
:
cardo de algodón
- The cotton thistle can grow up to three meters tall in ideal conditions.
Examples
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The pale purple flowers of the cotton thistle are attractive to bees.
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Gardeners sometimes remove cotton thistle to prevent it from spreading in the wild.
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The cotton thistle blooms in late summer.
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Have you seen the cotton thistle in the garden?
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The cotton thistle can grow up to three meters tall in ideal conditions.
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The pale purple flowers of the cotton thistle are attractive to bees.
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Gardeners sometimes remove cotton thistle to prevent it from spreading in the wild.
Synonyms
A large spiky plant with white fuzzy leaves and pale purple flowers
A tall prickly plant with pale purple flowers that lives for two years
A tall plant with sharp spines and pale purple flowers that spreads quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward noun–noun composition: 'cotton' (fluffy fibers) + 'thistle' (a spiny plant) yields a subtype of thistle characterized by cotton-like hairs. This descriptive, compositional pattern is transparent and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun cotton thistle comes from how the plant looks: it is a thistle covered in soft white hairs that look like cotton. That's why the name means 'a tall, white, hairy thistle'.
