meadow cranesbill

8.4

A tall plant that grows back each year with violet blue flowers

noun
/ˈmɛdoʊ ˈkreɪnzˌbɪl/

: geranio de pradera

Gardeners often plant meadow cranesbill for its resilience and attractive foliage.

Examples

The meadow cranesbill brightened the field with its vivid violet flowers each summer.
We spotted several meadow cranesbills along the riverbank during our hike.
The meadow cranesbill blooms beautifully in the summer.
Many gardeners love the meadow cranesbill for its vibrant flowers.
The meadow cranesbill adds beautiful violet-blue flowers to the garden.
In spring, the meadow cranesbill blooms, filling the fields with vibrant colors.
Wildlife loves the meadow cranesbill, as its flowers attract various pollinators.

Synonyms

Geranium pratense

vsmeadow cranesbill

Specialized

9.2

A tall plant that lives for many years and has bright blue flowers that grow in meadows

is the common name used for the same plant

cranesbill

vsmeadow cranesbill

9.9

A plant that lives for more than one year and has hand-shaped leaves and showy five-petaled flowers

is the specific tall violet-blue species native to northern Eurasia

Surface Forms

meadow cranesbill singular

meadow cranesbills plural

Morphology

meadow + cranesbill

The noun phrase is compositionally transparent: 'meadow' specifies the habitat or type of the head noun 'cranesbill', so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a kind of cranesbill found in meadows. This noun–modifier pattern is a common, cross-linguistic way to form plant names and is therefore immediately predictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Meadow cranesbill comes from the plant's shape: its long seed pod looks like a crane's 'beak', so people called it cranesbill. Because the plant often grows in open fields, the word meadow was added, so the name points to a field plant with a beak-like seed pod.