Colchicum autumnale
- noun
- Specialized
:
Colchicum autumnale
- The Colchicum autumnale blooms beautifully in the fall.
Examples
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In my garden, I planted several Colchicum autumnale bulbs.
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The garden's Colchicum autumnale bloomed in a rare shade of lavender this year.
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In Europe, Colchicum autumnale is admired for its vibrant autumn flowers.
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Never ingest Colchicum autumnale, as the entire plant is highly poisonous.
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In my garden, I planted several Colchicum autumnale bulbs, which produce stunning purple flowers in the autumn.
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The garden's Colchicum autumnale bloomed this year, displaying its beautiful lavender-and-white flowers.
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In Europe, Colchicum autumnale is admired for its bright autumn flowers and distinctive bulbous form.
Synonyms
1
8.1
A plant that grows from a bulb and makes white or purple flowers in autumn
A plant that has a bulb and makes purple or white flowers in autumn and is poisonous to eat
Surface Forms
Morphology
Colchicum + autumnale
The phrase is a botanical Latin binomial meaning essentially the Colchicum that flowers in autumn ('autumnal colchicum' → autumn crocus), so its meaning is compositional from the parts. However, because it uses Latin morphology and taxonomic naming conventions (the adjective 'autumnale' is not standard English), the connection may not be immediately obvious to a typical B1 learner without exposure to Latin or scientific names.
Etymology
Colchicum autumnale gets its first part, Colchicum, from Colchis, a place in old Greek stories, and its second part, autumnale, means 'autumn'. So the name helps you remember it is the 'autumn crocus' that blooms in fall and is very 'poisonous'.