Draba verna
- noun
- Specialized
:
Draba verna
- The tiny white flowers of Draba verna appear early in the spring before many other plants bloom.
Examples
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Gardeners may consider Draba verna a weed, but it adds diversity to early spring plant life.
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Botanists often find Draba verna growing in disturbed soils across temperate regions.
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The Draba verna blooms in early spring.
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Have you seen Draba verna in the garden?
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In many gardens, Draba verna can be seen thriving among the first wildflowers of the season.
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During spring, Draba verna often covers the ground with its delicate white flowers.
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Many people are surprised to learn that Draba verna can reproduce quickly and spread in suitable areas.
Synonyms
A small yearly weed with a low ring of leaves and long narrow seed pods
A common wild plant with a circle of leaves at the base, small flowers, and long seed cases
A small weed with tiny white flowers that grows in lawns and bare ground
A low-growing plant that forms a small flat cushion of leaves with tiny flowers
A group of small, low plants called whitlow-grasses that grow in cold regions
Surface Forms
Morphology
draba + verna
The name is a compositional Latin binomial: 'draba' denotes a small rosette-forming plant and 'verna' (from Latin vernal) means 'of spring', so the combined sense 'spring draba' (a Draba that blooms in spring) is directly derivable from the parts. Although 'verna' is rare and not a standard English word (hence many B1 learners would not know it), the meaning is transparently built from the constituent meanings if those are known.
Etymology
Draba verna is a Latin plant name made of two parts: Draba is an old word for small, mustard-like plants and verna means 'of the spring'. So the name fits the little white-flowered 'weed' that appears very early in the year.
