holy clover
- noun
- UK
:
trébol sagrado
- The field was covered in holy clover, attracting bees with its delicate pink flowers.
Examples
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The spread of holy clover in calcareous soils has helped increase honey production locally.
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Farmers in the region often plant holy clover as a reliable forage crop for their livestock.
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Look at the holy clover!
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The holy clover is beautiful.
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Farmers in the region often plant holy clover as a reliable forage crop for their livestock.
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The field was covered in holy clover, attracting bees with its delicate pink flowers.
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The spread of holy clover in calcareous soils has helped increase honey production locally.
Synonyms
A perennial plant with pale pink flowers and curved pods that people grow for animal feed and bee nectar
A flowering plant that lives many years and farmers grow to feed animals and attract bees
A plant with pale pink flowers and curved pods grown for animal feed and honey
A plant that lives for many years and is grown for animal feed and for bees
A small plant that lives for many years with pale pink pea flowers grown for animal feed and honey
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is an adjective + noun composition where the meaning can be directly inferred from the parts: 'clover' names the plant and 'holy' qualifies it as a particular or special kind of clover. A B1 learner who knows both words will understand it denotes a type of clover (likely with cultural or notable status), so the phrase is compositionally transparent.
Etymology
Holy clover may come from old stories that the plant often grew near churches, so people called the flower holy and the plant a clover. Because its sweet flowers attract bees and it makes good 'food for animals', the name stuck for this useful plant today.
