wild sensitive plant
- noun
- US
:
planta sensible silvestre
- The wild sensitive plant closes its leaflets quickly when disturbed by touch.
Examples
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Some gardeners grow the wild sensitive plant for its unusual, touch-responsive foliage.
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The wild sensitive plant closes its leaves when touched.
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Botanists studied the wild sensitive plant found along the riverbanks in South America.
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Have you ever seen a wild sensitive plant in nature?
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The wild sensitive plant reacts dramatically to touch, making it a fascinating species for botanical studies.
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Many people are amazed to see how quickly the wild sensitive plant folds its leaflets when someone brushes against it.
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When hiking in the forest, we spotted the wild sensitive plant and eagerly touched its leaves to observe their swift movement.
Synonyms
A small plant with yellow flowers whose leaves fold when touched
A tropical American plant with small leaves that fold when touched and yellow flowers
A small American plant with yellow flowers and leaflets that fold when touched, often in prairies and open woods
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'wild' (not cultivated), 'sensitive' (responsive to stimuli), and 'plant' (a photosynthetic organism) can infer this refers to a plant that is sensitive to touch and grows in the wild. The compound is compositional and corresponds to common cross-linguistic naming patterns for organisms (modifier + descriptive adjective + noun), so the meaning is directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Wild sensitive plant gets its name from what it does in nature: the plant grows in the wild, and it is very sensitive—its small leaves quickly 'close' if you touch them. So the name is a simple memory hook: the species 'reacts to touch' by folding its leaves.
