northern Jacob's ladder

9.9

A plant with upright stems and white flowers that lives many years in cold northern places

noun

: escalera de Jacob del norte

I photographed a cluster of northern Jacob's ladder blooming near the riverbank last spring.

Examples

The alpine garden features northern Jacob's ladder among its collection of rare wildflowers.
Botanists study the distribution of northern Jacob's ladder in cold, mountainous regions.
Look at that stunning northern Jacob's ladder!
I spotted a beautiful northern Jacob's ladder in the garden.
Botanists study the distribution of northern Jacob's ladder in cold, mountainous regions.
I photographed a cluster of northern Jacob's ladder blooming near the riverbank last spring.
The alpine garden features northern Jacob's ladder among its collection of rare wildflowers.

Synonyms

Polemonium boreale

vsnorthern Jacob's ladder

Specialized

9.9

A small plant with white flowers that grows each year in Arctic regions

is found across broader northern boreal regions not limited to the Arctic

Surface Forms

northern Jacob's ladder singular

Morphology

northern + Jacob's + ladder

This is a conventional plant name: 'Jacob's ladder' is a fixed proper name for a species (or group) and its meaning as a perennial herb cannot be derived from the literal words 'Jacob' + 'ladder'. The adjective 'northern' only indicates geographic variety and does not make the botanical sense predictable, so a B1 learner knowing the parts would not reliably infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Northern Jacob's ladder may come from the Bible story of Jacob's ladder. The plant grows a tall stem with rows of small leaves that look like the rungs of a ladder, and 'northern' shows it lives in cold northern places.