Dalea spinosa

9.9

A grey-green desert shrub with few leaves and blue-violet flowers that bees use to make honey

noun

Specialized

: Dalea spinosa

In spring, the Dalea spinosa produces striking spikes of bluish-violet blossoms across the arid landscape.

Examples

The Dalea spinosa shrub thrives under harsh desert conditions and provides shelter for native wildlife.
Beekeepers highly prize honey made from the flowers of Dalea spinosa due to its unique flavor.
The Dalea spinosa thrives in arid conditions.
Many gardeners appreciate the Dalea spinosa for its unique flowers.
Beekeepers highly prize honey made from the flowers of Dalea spinosa due to its unique flavor.
In spring, the Dalea spinosa produces striking spikes of bluish-violet blossoms across the arid landscape.
The Dalea spinosa shrub thrives under harsh desert conditions and provides shelter for native wildlife.

Surface Forms

Dalea spinosa singular

Dalea spinosas plural

Morphology

Dalea + spinosa

This is a taxonomic Latin binomial combining the genus name 'Dalea' with the epithet 'spinosa'; if a learner knows both constituents (and understands 'spinosa' as 'spiny' or 'thorny'), they can compositionally infer 'a spiny Dalea shrub'. Latin species epithets function like adjectives across languages and are cross-linguistically regular, so the overall meaning is directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Dalea spinosa may be named after an English plant expert, Samuel Dale, while the Latin word 'spinosa' means 'spiny'. So the name paints a clear picture of a spiky desert shrub with blue-violet flowers that bees use to make honey.