wall pepper

9.9

A small plant that grows along the ground or walls with thick leaves and bright yellow flowers

noun

: pimienta de pared

The old garden walls were covered in wall pepper, brightening the stones with yellow blooms.

Examples

Wall pepper thrives in dry, rocky areas where other ground covers may not survive.
In spring, the wall pepper displays bright yellow flowers that attract butterflies.
She planted wall pepper along the pathway to create a soft, colorful border.
The garden was filled with wall pepper.
I planted some wall peppers along the path.
Wall pepper is often used as a ground cover because it thrives in poor soil.
Adding wall pepper to your rock garden will provide vibrant color and texture.

Synonyms

Sedum acre

vswall pepper

Specialized

9.1

A low plant with small yellow flowers that forms a flat ground cover

is the common informal name used for the same groundcover plant

How Big

shrub

44 1.0

groundcover

Specialized

1 4.7

wall pepper

9.9

moss

46 1.0

Surface Forms

wall pepper singular

wall peppers plural

Morphology

wall + pepper

The noun composition 'wall + pepper' clearly signals something 'pepper'-like associated with walls, so a B1 learner who knows 'wall' and 'pepper' would likely infer it is a plant or plant part that grows on or near walls. However, the precise botanical identity (a mossy Sedum groundcover) and the reason for the word 'pepper' in the name are not predictable from the constituents, making the phrase only partially transparent.

Etymology

Wall pepper comes from the plant's way of growing on stone walls and from its small leaves that taste a little like pepper, while its tiny yellow flowers look like specks on the stones. So, imagining tiny spicy plants covering a wall helps you remember that it is a low ground-cover plant.