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Glite Dictionary
red helleborine

red helleborine

9.9
A small orchid with bright pink flowers that grows in Mediterranean and Asian woods
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : helleborina roja
  • The delicate pink blooms of the red helleborine add color to Mediterranean woodlands.

Examples

  • The red helleborine is rare and protected in several European countries.

  • Botanists were delighted to discover a population of red helleborine near the forest edge.

  • Look at that stunning red helleborine!

  • The red helleborine blooms beautifully in the spring.

  • The delicate pink blooms of the red helleborine add color to Mediterranean woodlands.

  • The red helleborine is rare and protected in several European countries.

  • Botanists were delighted to discover a population of red helleborine near the forest edge.

Synonyms

Cephalanthera rubra
vsred helleborine
  • Specialized
9.9

An orchid with loose spikes of bright pink flowers found in southern Europe and Asia

is the common English name used instead of the Latin form

Surface Forms

red helleborine singular
red helleborines plural

Morphology

red + helleborine

The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun combination: 'red' specifies the color of the noun 'helleborine' (a type of orchid), so the meaning 'a helleborine that is red in color' is directly derivable from the constituents. This compositional pattern (color adjective modifying a species noun) is cross-linguistically common and would be transparent to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Red helleborine gives a simple picture: red for its rose-pink flowers and helleborine an old word for small plants that looked like the 'hellebore'. So the name tells you it is an orchid with red-pink blooms found in Mediterranean woodlands.