Teucrium marum
- noun
- Specialized
:
teucrio
- Many gardeners grow Teucrium marum because its scent attracts cats to the garden.
Examples
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The leaves of Teucrium marum are soft, hairy, and aromatic when crushed.
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My cat loves Teucrium marum!
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Botanists often refer to Teucrium marum as cat thyme due to its effect on felines.
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Have you seen Teucrium marum in the garden?
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Many gardeners grow Teucrium marum because its scent attracts cats to the garden.
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Botanists often refer to Teucrium marum as cat thyme due to its effect on felines.
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The leaves of Teucrium marum are soft, hairy, and aromatic when crushed.
Synonyms
A small plant from the Mediterranean with reddish-purple flowers that attracts cats
A Mediterranean plant like mint with small hairy leaves and purple flowers that attract cats
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a Latin binomial combining a genus name (Teucrium) with a species epithet (marum), so a learner who knows both constituents can directly infer it denotes a particular plant species. Specific attributes (hairy leaves, cat-attracting) are not predictable from the names, but the primary referent (a plant in the Teucrium genus) is fully compositional and follows cross-linguistic botanical naming conventions.
Etymology
Teucrium marum is often called cat thyme because its soft, hairy leaves give off a strong smell when crushed that makes cats come and rub and roll on it. So the plant is known today for 'attracting cats'.
