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wild sweet potato vine

wild sweet potato vine

7.0
A climbing tropical plant with a large root used for food and related to the sweet potato
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : vid de batata silvestre
  • Botanists studied the wild sweet potato vine to learn more about the origins of the modern sweet potato.

Examples

  • The wild sweet potato vine grows rapidly in tropical climates and can cover large areas.

  • Its enormous root makes the wild sweet potato vine an important source of food for some communities.

  • The wild sweet potato vine grows abundantly in tropical regions.

  • Many farmers cultivate the wild sweet potato vine for its nutritious roots.

  • Botanists studied the wild sweet potato vine to learn more about the origins of the modern sweet potato.

  • Its enormous root makes the wild sweet potato vine an important source of food for some communities.

  • The wild sweet potato vine grows rapidly in tropical climates and can cover large areas.

Synonyms

wild potato vine
vswild sweet potato vine
  • US
8.6

A tropical plant that grows along the ground or climbs and has a large root people eat

is the name that highlights ancestry to the cultivated root crop
manroot
vswild sweet potato vine
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical climbing plant with a large starchy root often harvested for food

is cast as an ancestor of the cultivated sweet potato
Ipomoea fastigiata
vswild sweet potato vine
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical plant that grows along the ground or climbs and has a large starchy root used as food

is given in general terms rather than using the botanical herbaceous label
scammonyroot
vswild sweet potato vine
  • Archaic
9.9

A tropical plant with a very large root full of starch like a sweet potato

is described with a large root rather than a very large one
Ipomoea panurata
vswild sweet potato vine
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical climbing plant with a very large starchy root used as food

is described as having a large starchy root rather than a very large one
man-of-the-earth
vswild sweet potato vine
  • US
9.9

A plant with large starchy roots like a sweet potato

is defined by climbing or trailing habit rather than the family classification

Surface Forms

Morphology

wild + sweet + potato + vine

The phrase is directly built from its parts: 'wild' (growing naturally) + 'sweet potato' (the starchy plant) + 'vine' (a climbing plant), so a learner knowing those words will infer a vine form of the sweet potato growing in the wild. This compositional noun-modifier pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, making the overall meaning predictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The noun wild sweet potato vine names a climbing plant with a large starchy root; the word wild shows it grows in nature, sweet potato points to its potato-like root, and vine tells us it climbs or trails along the ground. That's why the name means a wild, climbing plant related to the sweet potato and often used as 'food'.