smoke tree
- noun
- /smoʊk tri/
:
árbol de humo
- She admired the smoke tree for its unique blossoms that resembled wisps of smoke drifting on the breeze.
Examples
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The waste became less forbidding: clumps of stunted smoke-tree appeared, and presently black dendron and bladder-bush.
Fiction book (1993) -
The garden was filled with beautiful smoke trees that produced delicate, feathery flowers in the spring.
-
The honey produced by bees that pollinate smoke trees is renowned for its distinct and rich flavor.
Synonyms
A bush from Europe and Asia with feathery yellow flowers like smoke
A shrub or small tree with feathery flowers that look like puffs of smoke
A small tree or large shrub from the southern United States with feathery flowers that look like smoke
A small, bushy tree with large feathery flower clusters that look like puffs of smoke
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'smoke tree' names a type of tree characterized by smoke-like or feathery flowers, so its meaning is a straightforward, descriptive composition of 'smoke' + 'tree'. This noun + noun formation is a common, cross-linguistic naming pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can readily infer the plant sense.
Etymology
Smoke tree: The plant name smoke tree comes from the look of its blossoms: feathery flower clusters that hover on a small tree like pale puffs of smoke. That's why the name means a shrub or small tree with 'smoke-like' flowers often grown for its looks and for honey.