snake's head fritillary
- noun
- /ˈsneɪks hɛd frɪˈtɪləri/
:
fritillaria de cabeza de serpiente
- The snake's head fritillary blooms each spring, displaying its distinctive checkered petals.
Examples
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Gardeners often plant snake's head fritillaries to add color and interest to damp meadows.
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A rare white variety of the snake's head fritillary was discovered growing in the wild.
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The snake's head fritillary blooms beautifully in spring.
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Have you seen a snake's head fritillary before?
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Gardeners often plant snake's head fritillary to add color and interest to damp meadows.
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The snake's head fritillary blooms each spring, displaying its distinctive checkered petals.
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A rare white variety of the snake's head fritillary was discovered growing in the wild.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A small bulb plant with nodding bell-shaped flowers, often with checkered petals
A small European lily with bell-shaped purple or maroon checkered flowers
A plant with bell-shaped flowers that hang down and show a checkered pattern
A garden plant with hanging bell-shaped flowers that are purple and white in a checkered pattern
A plant with nodding bell-shaped flowers that are often purple and checkered
A garden flower with hanging bell-shaped petals patterned with purple checks
Surface Forms
Morphology
snake's + head + fritillary
This name is compositionally built: a fritillary (a bulbous plant) described by a 'snake's head'—i.e., the flower/head looks like a snake's head—so the overall meaning is directly inferable from the parts. Such appearance-based plant names follow common descriptive patterns across languages, so a learner who knows the constituents would understand the referent.
Etymology
Snake's head fritillary gets its name from the flower's nodding, bell-shaped head and its checkered petals that look a little like a snake's head or skin. The word fritillary comes from an old word for a 'dice box' because of the checkered pattern, so the whole name points to this patterned spring flower.