Columbia tiger lily
- noun
- Specialized
:
lirio tigre de Columbia
- The Columbia tiger lily is often found growing wild in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
Examples
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Gardeners prize the Columbia tiger lily for its vibrant and unique flowers.
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During our hike, we spotted several Columbia tiger lilies blooming along the trail.
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The Columbia tiger lily blooms beautifully in the spring.
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I saw a Columbia tiger lily at the botanical garden.
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During our hike, we spotted several Columbia tiger lilies blooming along the trail.
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Gardeners prize the Columbia tiger lily for its vibrant and unique flowers.
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The Columbia tiger lily is often found growing wild in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
Synonyms
A type of lily with bright orange flowers with purple spots from western North America
A tall wild flower from western North America with bright orange-red flowers spotted with purple
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'tiger lily' names a type of lily (the animal metaphor signals striped/spotted appearance) and 'Columbia' functions as a place-name modifier indicating a regional variety or origin. This place-name + noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and involves no idiomatic meaning shift, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer it refers to a particular kind of lily associated with Columbia.
Etymology
Columbia tiger lily likely gets its name from the Columbia River region and the lily's bright orange petals with dark spots that look like a tiger's coat, so the name helps you picture this wild flower.
