Skip to main content
pea tree

pea tree

9.5
A small bush or tree with pairs of small leaves, yellow flowers, and thin seed pods
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : caragana
  • Yellow blossoms covered the pea tree in the garden last spring.

Examples

  • The pea tree is often planted as a windbreak in harsh climates.

  • Farmers use the hardy pea tree to prevent soil erosion on their land.

  • Look at that pea tree!

  • The pea tree blooms beautifully in spring.

  • Farmers use the hardy pea tree to prevent soil erosion on their land.

  • The pea tree is often planted as a windbreak in harsh climates.

  • Yellow blossoms covered the pea tree in the garden last spring.

Synonyms

caragana
vspea tree
  • Specialized
9.9

A small bush with bright yellow flowers and long seed pods

is the same shrub description without mentioning geographic origin

Surface Forms

pea tree singular
pea trees plural

Morphology

pea + tree

The compound clearly combines 'pea' + 'tree', so a B1 learner who knows both words will likely infer it denotes a tree associated with peas or with pea‑like pods/flowers. However, the specific botanical sense (shrubs of the genus Caragana) and the fact that peas themselves are not true trees make the exact meaning not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The name pea tree comes from the plant's pea-like flowers and long seed pods, and because it is a small, tree-like shrub people joined pea and tree to make the name. So today pea tree means a hardy small shrub or little tree that belongs to the 'pea plant' family.