black fritillary
- noun
- US
:
fritilaria negra
- In the wildflower exhibition, the black fritillary stood out due to its dark purple flowers mottled with green.
Examples
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The black fritillary blooms in late spring across the desert meadows.
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We spotted several black fritillaries during our hike in New Mexico.
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Botanists admire the unique color pattern of the black fritillary's flowers.
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The black fritillary blooms beautifully in spring.
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I saw a black fritillary in the garden yesterday.
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Many visitors to the park come to see the striking black fritillary with its bell-shaped flowers.
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The black fritillary grows predominantly in the southwestern United States and is admired for its unique appearance.
Synonyms
A small wild flower with dark purple bell-shaped petals spotted with green
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase denotes a fritillary (a bell-shaped flowering plant) that is dark in color, so its meaning is directly derived from combining the adjective 'black' with the noun 'fritillary'. Even if the botanical name refers to a very dark purple rather than pure black, the adjective-noun compositional pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would understand the meaning.
Etymology
Black fritillary gets its name from the flower's dark, bell-shaped blooms that show a spotted, checkered look. The word black points to the dark color and fritillary may come from a word for a 'checkered' pattern or a spotted 'butterfly', so the name helps you picture the dark, patterned flower.
