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Glite Dictionary
tidy tips

tidy tips

9.9
A wildflower in California that lives for one year and has yellow flowers with white tips
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : flor de punta ordenada
  • The hills turned gold and white in spring as the tidy tips came into bloom.

Examples

  • Many hikers stopped to take pictures of the tidy tips growing along the trail.

  • I saw a field of tidy tips near San Francisco.

  • Botanists appreciate how tidy tips brighten California’s grasslands with their cheerful flowers.

  • The tidy tips bloom in spring.

  • Many hikers stopped to take pictures of the tidy tips growing along the trail.

  • Botanists appreciate how tidy tips brighten California’s grasslands with their cheerful flowers.

  • The hills turned gold and white in spring as the tidy tips came into bloom.

Synonyms

Layia platyglossa
vstidy tips
  • Specialized
9.9

A small wildflower from California with yellow flower heads tipped with white

is the common nontechnical name used for the same flower
tidytips
vstidy tips
  • US
9.9

A small California wildflower with yellow petals that have white tips

is the species-specific common name rather than a genus-level label

Surface Forms

tidy tips singular
tidy tip plural

Morphology

tidy + tip

The phrase combines familiar words ('tidy' + 'tips') and could suggest a visual property (neat or notable tips), so learners might guess it describes an object with distinctive tips. However, the meaning 'a specific California wildflower' as a plant name is not fully derivable from the constituents and requires lexical/botanical knowledge, so the relation is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Tidy tips gets its name from the flower's neat look: each yellow petal ends in a white tip, so the plant looks like it has neat, tidy tips. That's why the name refers to this small California wildflower.