lesser celandine

9.9

A small plant with heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers like a buttercup

noun

: celidonia menor

The woods were carpeted with golden lesser celandine in early spring.

Examples

Herbalists historically used the roots of lesser celandine to make remedies for piles.
Gardeners sometimes remove lesser celandine because it spreads quickly and can overtake lawns.
Look at the lesser celandine!
The lesser celandine blooms in early spring.
The woods were carpeted with golden lesser celandine in early spring.
Gardeners sometimes remove lesser celandine because it spreads quickly and can overtake lawns.
Herbalists historically used the roots of lesser celandine to make remedies for piles.

Synonyms

Ranunculus ficaria

vslesser celandine

Specialized

9.9

A small wild plant with heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers

is the common everyday name rather than the scientific label

pilewort

vslesser celandine

9.9

European wild plant with bright yellow flowers and heart-shaped leaves whose roots are used to treat piles or hemorrhoids

is the general plant term without focusing only on that medical use

Surface Forms

lesser celandine singular

lesser celandines plural

Morphology

lesser + celandine

This is a simple modifier + noun compound: 'lesser' signals a smaller or lesser-sized variety of 'celandine', so a learner who knows both words will infer it denotes a smaller species of celandine. Detailed botanical properties are not derivable from the phrase, but the core referential meaning is fully compositional and follows a common pattern for plant names.

Etymology

Lesser celandine may come from an old belief that the plant started to flower when swallows returned in spring. Celandine is from a word for the bird 'swallow' and lesser shows it is the smaller kind, so the name helps you remember it as a small spring flower.