one-flowered wintergreen
- noun
- UK
- The one-flowered wintergreen blooms in early spring, showcasing a delicate white flower atop its green leaves.
Examples
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The one-flowered wintergreen can be found growing in moist, shady forests throughout the northern hemisphere.
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She photographed a rare patch of one-flowered wintergreen during her hike in the Canadian woods.
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Botanists admire the solitary white blossom of the one-flowered wintergreen each spring.
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Look at that one-flowered wintergreen growing by the path!
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I spotted a beautiful one-flowered wintergreen during my hike.
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In the forest, I discovered a patch of one-flowered wintergreen, its single white flower glowing in the dappled sunlight.
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During our nature walk, we saw a one-flowered wintergreen nestled among the ferns, its pristine flower standing out beautifully.
Synonyms
A small evergreen plant with one white flower that grows on the forest floor in cool northern regions
A small evergreen plant with a single white flower
A small evergreen plant with one white flower at the top
Surface Forms
Morphology
one-flowered + wintergreen
The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'one-flowered' is interpretable as 'having one flower' and 'wintergreen' names a particular evergreen plant, so together they mean 'a wintergreen plant with a single flower.' This adjective–noun compounding follows regular English formation and is cross-linguistically paralleled, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings can reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
One-flowered wintergreen gets its name from a simple picture: one and flowered point to a 'single white flower' at the top of the stem, and wintergreen points to leaves that 'stay green in winter'. So the name tells you it is a small evergreen herb with one flower.