Daphne mezereum
- noun
- Specialized
:
daphne mezereum
- In early spring, Daphne mezereum produces clusters of fragrant flowers before its leaves emerge.
Examples
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The berries of Daphne mezereum are beautiful but extremely poisonous to humans and animals.
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Gardeners should take extra care when handling Daphne mezereum due to its toxic twigs.
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The Daphne mezereum is known for its beautiful flowers.
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I saw a Daphne mezereum blooming in the garden.
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Gardeners should take extra care when handling Daphne mezereum due to its toxic twigs.
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In early spring, Daphne mezereum produces clusters of fragrant flowers before its leaves emerge.
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The berries of Daphne mezereum are beautiful but extremely poisonous to humans and animals.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A small European bush with sweet-smelling pink-purple flowers and red poisonous berries and twigs
A small European shrub with fragrant lilac flowers that bloom early and red poisonous berries
Surface Forms
Morphology
Daphne + mezereum
This is a scientific binomial: a genus name plus a Latin species epithet. Knowing 'Daphne' (a shrub genus) does not let a B1 learner infer the specific properties encoded by the epithet 'mezereum' (which is not an English word and functions as an arbitrary label), so the detailed meaning is not derivable from the constituents. Taxonomic names act as proper names across languages, making the compound effectively opaque to learners.
Etymology
Daphne mezereum gets its name from Daphne, a girl in Greek stories who became a tree, because the shrub has sweet-smelling flowers. The word mezereum may come from an old word for a pleasant smell or a place name, and that helps you remember this pretty shrub has a lovely scent but red, 'poisonous' berries and toxic twigs.