Arctostaphylos manzanita

9.9

A small evergreen bush or tree with smooth red bark, twisting branches, pink drooping flowers, and red berries

noun
/ˌɑrktoʊstəˈfaɪloʊs ˌmænzəˈniːtə/

Specialized

: manzanita

The garden featured a beautiful Arctostaphylos manzanita with clusters of pinkish flowers in early spring.

Examples

Wildlife is attracted to Arctostaphylos manzanita because of its nutritious berries.
The Arctostaphylos manzanita thrives in dry, rocky soils.
Several Arctostaphylos manzanita shrubs grew along the trail, their red bark gleaming in the sunlight.
Do you know about the Arctostaphylos manzanita shrub?
The garden featured a beautiful Arctostaphylos manzanita with clusters of pinkish flowers in early spring.
Several Arctostaphylos manzanita shrubs grew along the trail, their red bark gleaming in the sunlight.
Wildlife is attracted to Arctostaphylos manzanita because of its nutritious berries.

Synonyms

manzanita

vsArctostaphylos manzanita

3 9.9

A small evergreen tree or shrub with shiny leaves, smooth red bark, and small edible red berries

is a specific California species with twisting branches and drooping white or pink flowers

Surface Forms

Arctostaphylos manzanita singular

Arctostaphylos manzanitus singular

Morphology

Arctostaphylos + manzanita

The phrase combines a botanical genus name with a noun that already denotes a small tree/shrub, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer this refers to a particular species of shrub. Taxonomic naming (genus + species) and the shared shrub semantics make the meaning compositional and cross-linguistically recognizable, so it is transparent.

Etymology

Arctostaphylos manzanita comes from Greek and Spanish: Arctostaphylos means 'bear grape' and manzanita is Spanish for 'little apple' because the shrub makes small red berries that look like tiny apples and that bears eat. That's why the name fits this evergreen shrub with red, apple-like berries.