prickly poppy
- noun
- UK
:
pavón espinoso
- The prickly poppy has distinctive orange-red flowers and sharp spines on its fruit.
Examples
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In the wild, the prickly poppy grows along dry roadsides and fields.
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Gardeners often avoid touching the prickly poppy because of its bristly seed pods.
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The prickly poppy blooms beautifully in the spring.
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Many gardeners love the prickly poppy for its vibrant colors.
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Gardeners often avoid touching the prickly poppy because of its spiny seed pods.
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The prickly poppy has bright orange-red flowers that attract many pollinators in the garden.
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In the wild, the prickly poppy thrives in dry areas, showcasing its unique beauty.
Synonyms
A yearly plant with orange-red poppy flowers and prickly seed pods
How Spiny
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'prickly' (having thorns/spines) modifying 'poppy' (a flowering plant), so a learner who knows both words will infer it denotes a poppy with prickly leaves/stems. This adjective+noun composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and therefore immediately predictable to a B1 learner even if they do not know the specific botanical genus.
Etymology
Prickly poppy is a simple name: the word prickly points to the sharp spines on its seed pods and the word poppy to its orange-red flower. Because the plant has spiny fruit that people avoid touching, the name means 'a poppy with sharp spines'.