swamp dewberry

9.9

A bristly trailing plant with small black berries like a blackberry that grows in wet places

noun

Specialized

: mora de pantano

The swamp dewberry is often found in wet, boggy areas of the eastern United States.

Examples

Birds are known to feed on the fruit of the swamp dewberry during late summer.
The swamp dewberry plant grows well in wet areas.
The bristly stems of the swamp dewberry make it easy to distinguish from other plants.
I found some swamp dewberries near the river.
In the humid summer, we often found ripe swamp dewberry nestled among the tall grasses.
The trail was lined with swamp dewberry, providing a sweet treat for hikers.
As we walked through the wetland, we spotted clusters of swamp dewberry growing near the water's edge.

Synonyms

Rubus hispidus

vsswamp dewberry

Specialized

9.9

A low bush from eastern North America that makes small dark berries

is the everyday common name rather than the formal scientific label

swamp blackberry

vsswamp dewberry

6.7

A low spiny bush that grows in wet ground and has small black berries you can eat

is a trailing form rather than a low ground-hugging shrub

Surface Forms

swamp dewberry singular

swamp dewberries plural

Morphology

swamp + dewberry

The phrase is a straightforward noun–noun composition where 'swamp' specifies the habitat or type and 'dewberry' names the plant; the meaning 'a dewberry that grows in swamps' is directly derivable from the constituents. Both words are concrete and the modifier+head pattern is a regular English composition, so a B1 learner who knows 'swamp' and 'dewberry' can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Swamp dewberry The plant name swamp dewberry comes from where it grows and the kind of berry it is: swamp for the 'wet, boggy places' it prefers and dewberry for the low, spreading bushes that bear small black berries. So the name helps you remember it is a plant with rough stems that grows low to the ground and makes small black fruit in wet areas.