winter heliotrope
- noun
- /ˈwɪntər ˈhiːliəˌtroʊp/
:
heliotropo invernal
- Gardeners appreciate winter heliotrope for its fragrant flowers that bloom when little else is in flower.
Examples
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The winter heliotrope spreads rapidly along riverbanks, adding a splash of color to the landscape during colder months.
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I recognized the sweet scent of winter heliotrope as I walked through the park in January.
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The winter heliotrope blooms in the cold months.
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Have you seen the winter heliotropes in the garden?
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Gardeners appreciate winter heliotrope for its fragrant flowers that bloom when little else is in flower.
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I recognized the sweet scent of winter heliotrope as I walked through the park in January.
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The winter heliotrope spreads rapidly along riverbanks, adding a splash of color to the landscape during colder months.
Synonyms
A garden plant with large leaves and white to pink flowers that smell like vanilla
A European plant with a vanilla smell and white to pink flowers that grows in wet places
Surface Forms
Morphology
winter + heliotrope
The phrase is a simple head-modifier noun phrase: 'winter' modifies 'heliotrope' to indicate the type or seasonality of the plant, so the overall meaning is directly compositional (a heliotrope associated with or blooming in winter). Even though 'heliotrope' is rare, if a learner knows both constituent meanings they can infer the MWE meaning from this standard English modifier+head pattern.
Etymology
Winter heliotrope gets its name from heliotrope, a word made from old words for 'sun' and 'turn' because these plants were thought to 'turn to the sun'. So the name helps you picture a sweet-smelling plant that flowers in 'winter' when few others do.
