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lady's earrings

lady's earrings

9.9
A small annual plant with yellow or orange flowers that grows in wet acidic soil
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : pendientes de dama
  • In the wetland, clusters of lady's earrings brightened the landscape with their golden flowers.

Examples

  • Gardeners often plant lady's earrings to add a splash of orange to shady areas.

  • Because it thrives in acidic soil, lady's earrings is ideal for bog gardens.

  • Look at the lady's earrings!

  • Wow, lady's earrings!

  • Because it thrives in acidic soil, lady's earrings is ideal for bog gardens.

  • Gardeners often plant lady's earrings to add a splash of orange to shady areas.

  • In the wetland, clusters of lady's earrings brightened the landscape with their golden flowers.

Synonyms

jewelweed
vslady's earrings
  • US
1 9.1

A plant with bright orange or yellow flowers that grows in wet places and whose sap soothes itchy skin

is the same plant but description does not stress the soothing sap
Impatiens capensis
vslady's earrings
  • Specialized
9.3

A North American annual plant with bright orange or yellow flowers often called jewelweed that grows in shady, wet places

is the common name rather than the formal Latin name
orange balsam
vslady's earrings
  • US
8.3

A North American annual plant with yellow or orange flowers that grows in wet, acidic soil

is the common North American name rather than this descriptive phrase
celandine
vslady's earrings
  • US
9.9

A plant that lives for one year with yellow or orange flowers that grows in wet, acidic soil

is the usual regional name rather than this variant term

Surface Forms

Morphology

lady's + earrings

This is a conventionalized common name for a plant; a learner who knows 'lady' (a woman) and 'earrings' (jewellery) would naturally interpret the phrase as referring to jewellery, not a botanical species. Plant names are often lexicalized and culture-specific (even when motivated by shape metaphors), so the botanical meaning 'a North American annual plant' cannot be reliably derived from the constituents by a B1 learner.

Etymology

Lady's earrings gets its name from the plant's small, hanging orange or yellow flowers that look like tiny earrings. So people called this 'plant' lady's earrings because its blooms hang like little pieces of jewelry.