narrow-leaf penstemon
- noun
- Specialized
- The narrow-leaf penstemon is admired for its stunning blue-violet blooms in late spring.
Examples
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Hikers in Colorado often spot clusters of narrow-leaf penstemon along sunlit trails.
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I saw a narrow-leaf penstemon while hiking in Utah.
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Botanists recorded the presence of narrow-leaf penstemon in both New Mexico and Arizona.
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The narrow-leaf penstemon blooms beautifully in the spring.
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Hikers in Colorado often spot clusters of narrow-leaf penstemon along sunlit trails.
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Botanists recorded the presence of narrow-leaf penstemon in both New Mexico and Arizona.
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The narrow-leaf penstemon is admired for its stunning blue-violet blooms in late spring.
Synonyms
A flowering plant with narrow leaves and long clusters of blue-violet flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
narrow-leaf + Penstemon
The phrase is fully compositional: 'narrow-leaf' describes having narrow leaves and 'Penstemon' names a genus of flowering plants, so together it denotes a penstemon with narrow leaves. This modifier+noun pattern is a standard, cross-linguistically common construction that a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings can readily infer.
Etymology
Narrow-leaf penstemon is a name that describes the plant: narrow-leaf means it has thin leaves, and penstemon (often called 'beardtongue') points to a small hairy part inside the flower that looks like a little beard or tongue. So the name simply means a penstemon with thin leaves, which helps you remember this blue-violet wildflower.