Southern crab apple
- noun
- /ˈsʌðərn kræb ˈæpəl/
- US
:
manzano silvestre del sur
- The Southern crab apple is prized for its vibrant spring blossoms in many gardens.
Examples
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Wildlife often feed on the fruit of the Southern crab apple during the autumn months.
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The Southern crab apple tree blooms beautifully in spring.
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She planted a Southern crab apple in her front yard to enjoy its colorful blooms each year.
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Many gardeners love the Southern crab apple for its stunning flowers.
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She planted a Southern crab apple in her front yard to enjoy its colorful blooms each year.
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The Southern crab apple is prized for its vibrant spring blossoms that attract many visitors.
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Many gardeners appreciate the Southern crab apple for its stunning pink flowers and ornamental appeal.
Synonyms
A small tree or shrub that people grow for decoration in the southeastern United States
Surface Forms
Morphology
The elements 'southern' and 'apple' transparently signal a type of apple tree, but the modifier 'crab' here is a specialised sense (crab apple = small/sour/wild apple) that is lexicalized and not the literal animal. An average B1 who knows 'crab' only as the animal would not reliably infer this specialised botanical sense, so the meaning is partially but not fully predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Southern crab apple is the name for a small tree or bush from the southern United States. The word crab shows the fruit is small and sour and apple shows it makes little apples, so picture a small Southern tree covered in pink flowers and tiny fruit, and that's why the name means 'a small tree grown for its pretty rose-colored flowers'.
