Indian cherry
- noun
- US
:
cereza india
- In autumn, the leaves of the Indian cherry turn a striking golden-yellow color.
Examples
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The Indian cherry produces small black berries that attract many birds each summer.
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Gardeners often plant Indian cherry to add seasonal interest to their landscapes.
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Look at that beautiful Indian cherry over there!
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I saw many Indian cherries in the park.
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In autumn, the leaves of the Indian cherry turn a striking golden-yellow color.
-
The Indian cherry produces small black berries that attract many birds each summer.
-
Gardeners often plant Indian cherry to add seasonal interest to their landscapes.
Synonyms
A small bush from eastern and central United States with black berries and golden yellow leaves in autumn
A small bush that loses its leaves and has black berries and golden yellow autumn leaves
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound follows a straightforward modifier + head-noun pattern: 'Indian' qualifies the head 'cherry', so it denotes a type/kind of cherry. A B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer it is a cherry tree/shrub (even if they might not know the precise botanical or regional sense of 'Indian').
Etymology
Indian cherry may come from what early settlers called many new American plants. One popular story says they used Indian to mean 'from America' and called its small round fruits cherry because they looked 'like a cherry', so the name now refers to a shrub with golden autumn leaves and dark berry-like fruit.
