cape jasmine
- noun
- /keɪp ˈdʒæz.mɪn/
:
gardenia
- In spring, the cape jasmine blooms, transforming the garden into a fragrant paradise.
Examples
-
She kept the whole bundle buried in the yard on the south corner of the house, underneath a cape jasmine vine that crawled up the chimney flue.
Fiction book (1994) -
They sat on the upstairs back gallery overlooking a garden fragrant with cape jasmine, hanging baskets of petunias, and the other plants that grew there in those days.
Fiction book (1996) -
Lying in the dirt, under the cape jasmine, she heard Miz Smith say, plain as if she were sitting in a chair across from her, "Ain't nothing to do for it."
Fiction book (1994) -
The garden was filled with the sweet scent of cape jasmine, drawing butterflies and bees to its beautiful white flowers.
-
She admired the glossy leaves of the cape jasmine as they shimmered in the sunlight.
Synonyms
2
6.0
A small bush with large, sweet-smelling white or yellow flowers
An evergreen bush with big white scented flowers and shiny leaves
An evergreen shrub with glossy leaves and large white flowers that smell sweet
Surface Forms
Morphology
cape + jasmine
The noun 'jasmine' clearly signals a fragrant plant and 'cape' functions as a modifier (likely a place-name or type), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a kind of fragrant shrub. However, the fixed name refers specifically to gardenia (not a true jasmine) and that specific identity and mismatch are not predictable from the parts, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Cape jasmine may come from early plants sent to Europe from the 'Cape of Good Hope' in South Africa. People felt its large, sweet white flowers looked and smelled like true jasmine, so they put cape and jasmine together and also called it 'gardenia', which is why cape jasmine now names this fragrant evergreen shrub.