kitten-tails

9.9

A small North American plant with fluffy spikes of tiny flowers like a kitten's tail

noun

: cola de gatito

Several kitten-tails bloomed along the edge of the meadow, their fluffy spikes swaying in the breeze.

Examples

Gardeners admire kitten-tails for their delicate, tail-like clusters of tiny flowers.
The botanist carefully identified the plant as a species of kitten-tails belonging to the genus Besseya.
Look at those kitten-tails!
The kitten-tails are beautiful.
Gardeners admire kitten-tails for their delicate, tail-like clusters of tiny flowers.
Several kitten-tails bloomed along the edge of the meadow, their fluffy spikes swaying in the breeze.
The botanist carefully identified the plant as a species of kitten-tails belonging to the genus Besseya.

Synonyms

Besseya

vskitten-tails

Specialized

9.9

A group of North American wildflowers that bloom in spring

refers to a particular plant in that genus rather than the whole group

Besseya alpina

vskitten-tails

Specialized

9.9

A small mountain plant that lives for many years and grows in high cold meadows with pale blue-violet flower spikes

is a general common name for similar plants not only this species

Alpine besseya

vskitten-tails

9.9

A small pale mountain plant with dense spikes of light blue-violet flowers

is a broader common name for related plants not limited to that species

Surface Forms

kitten-tails singular

kitten-tails plural

Morphology

kitten-tails = kitten + tail (transparent) = kitten + tail + s

The name is a literal compound referring to a resemblance to a kitten's tail, and the final -s is a regular plural, so the structure and meaning are directly guessable.

Etymology

Kitten-tails comes from people noticing that the plant's fluffy flower spikes look like a baby cat's tail, with the parts kitten ('small cat') and tails ('tail') showing that comparison. That's why kitten-tails is the name for a North American plant called Besseya with soft, tail-shaped spikes of tiny flowers.