low St Andrew's cross
- noun
- US
:
cruz de San Andrés baja
- Botanists observed the distinctively arranged flowers on the low St Andrew's cross during their field survey.
Examples
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The low St Andrew's cross thrives in sandy soils along the coast of the southeastern United States.
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The garden features a section devoted to native plants, including the low St Andrew's cross.
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Look at that low St Andrew's cross!
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The low St Andrew's cross blooms brightly.
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The low St Andrew's cross thrives in sandy soils along the coast of the southeastern United States.
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Botanists observed the distinctively arranged flowers on the low St Andrew's cross during their field survey.
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The garden features a section devoted to native plants, including the low St Andrew's cross.
Synonyms
A low shrub with yellow four-petaled flowers that grows in warm coastal areas
A small bush with yellow four-petalled flowers in a cross shape often found in the southeastern United States
A small bush with yellow or apricot flowers that have four petals formed like a cross
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'low' and the noun 'cross' give partial, transparent cues (a low-growing thing with a cross-like shape), so a learner might infer stature and a cross-shaped feature. However 'St Andrew's cross' is a fixed, culture-specific plant name whose botanical sense (a shrubby plant with four-petaled yellow flowers) is not predictable from the constituents alone, so full understanding requires prior exposure.
Etymology
Low St Andrew's cross gets its name because the plant is low to the ground and its yellow flowers have four petals arranged like a St Andrew's cross, an X-shaped cross. So the name helps you picture a small plant with X-shaped flowers.
