Canada lily
- noun
- US
:
lirio canadiense
- We spotted a cluster of Canada lilies along the hiking trail in June.
Examples
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Gardeners prize the Canada lily for its elegant, nodding flowers.
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The bright yellow blooms of the Canada lily stood out in the forest clearing.
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The Canada lily blooms in the summer.
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I saw beautiful Canada lilies in the garden.
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Gardeners prize the Canada lily for its elegant, nodding flowers.
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The bright yellow blooms of the Canada lily stood out in the forest clearing.
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We spotted a cluster of Canada lilies along the hiking trail in June.
Synonyms
A wild lily from the eastern United States with hanging yellow or reddish spotted flowers
A wild flower that grows in meadows and open woods and has hanging yellow or red blooms with brown spots
A common wild flower with nodding yellow or red petals spotted with brown
A plant from eastern North America with hanging yellow or red flowers spotted with brown
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'Canada lily' is a straightforward noun phrase formed by a country name modifying a plant: 'Canada' (a country) + 'lily' (a plant), so its meaning as a lily associated with Canada (a species name) is directly inferable from the parts. This compositional pattern (place/descriptor + noun for species names) is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand it.
Etymology
Canada lily gets its name from the country Canada, where this bright, nodding flower often grows, and the word lily for the type of flower. Picture a yellow or reddish spotted lily nodding in a Canadian wood — that image explains why the name today means 'a type of lily found in Canada and nearby parts of North America'.
