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Glite Dictionary
flowering stone

flowering stone

9.6
A small plant with thick leaves that look like stones and one yellow or white flower
  • noun
  • South African
translation icon : piedra floreciente
  • Each spring, the flowering stone produces a single bright bloom that stands out among the gray leaves.

Examples

  • The flowering stone blended perfectly with the pebbles, making it difficult to spot in the garden.

  • I bought a flowering stone for my collection.

  • Botanists admire the flowering stone for its unique ability to mimic its rocky surroundings.

  • The flowering stone bloomed beautifully in the garden.

  • Each spring, the flowering stone produces a single bright bloom that stands out among the gray leaves.

  • Botanists admire the flowering stone for its unique ability to mimic its rocky surroundings.

  • The flowering stone blended perfectly with the pebbles, making it difficult to spot in the garden.

Synonyms

stoneface
vsflowering stone
  • South African
1 9.9

A small plant with thick leaves that look like stones and yellow or white flowers

is identical but uses an alternative compound or descriptive form
lithops
vsflowering stone
  • Specialized
9.9

A small African succulent with thick leaves that look like stones and one yellow or white flower

is identical in meaning but uses a descriptive common name instead
living stone
vsflowering stone
  • South African
9.3

A small plant with thick leaves that looks like a stone and has yellow or white flowers

is identical in meaning but uses a different common name
stone plant
vsflowering stone
9.5

A small plant with thick leaves that look like stones and a single yellow or white flower

is identical but prefers a more vivid floral-focused name
stone-face
vsflowering stone
  • South African
9.9

A small plant with thick leaves that looks like a stone and has yellow or white flowers

is identical but uses a non-hyphenated or floral descriptive form

Surface Forms

flowering stone singular
flowering stones plural

Morphology

flowering + stone

The meaning is directly compositional: 'flowering' (bearing blossoms) modifies 'stone' (rock), so a B1 learner would reasonably infer a stone-like thing that flowers — i.e., a plant that looks like a stone and produces blossoms. This adjective+noun descriptive pattern is a common, cross-linguistic compounding type, making the expression transparent to learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

Flowering stone comes from a small plant that looks like a rock but grows a single bright flower on top. The word stone shows the plant's rock-like leaves and flowering shows the bloom, so the name helps you remember a plant that 'hides' as a stone and then flowers.