American wistaria
- noun
- /əˈmɛrɪkən wɪˈsteəriə/
- US
:
wistaria americana
- The American wistaria blooms in late spring, covering fences with fragrant, lilac-colored flowers.
Examples
-
Unlike its Asian relatives, the American wistaria is less aggressive and easier to control in home gardens.
-
Gardeners often choose American wistaria for its hardiness in colder U.S. climates.
-
Look at that American wistaria!
-
The American wistaria blooms in spring.
-
Gardeners often choose American wistaria for its hardiness in colder U.S. climates.
-
The American wistaria blooms in late spring, covering fences with fragrant, lilac-colored flowers.
-
Unlike its Asian relatives, the American wistaria is less aggressive and easier to control in home gardens.
Synonyms
A climbing plant with pale purple flowers that grows in the eastern United States
A climbing plant from the eastern United States with pale purple hanging flower clusters
Surface Forms
Morphology
American + wistaria
The phrase is a straightforward adjective+noun composition: 'American' specifies origin or variety and 'wistaria' names a plant, so the meaning is simply a wistaria from (or of) America. Although 'wistaria' is a rare or variant spelling and may be unfamiliar, the semantic relation is fully compositional and predictable for learners who know both constituents.
Etymology
American wistaria gets its name from an American doctor, Dr. Caspar Wistar, whose name was used by early plant experts to name the vine. That's why the American type uses the spelling wistaria, and today the name means the native climbing plant with pale purple, hanging flowers.
