cotton-seed tree

9.5

A small bush that grows in salt marshes and has fruit with white fluffy tufts

noun

Specialized

: árbol de semillas de algodón

The cotton-seed tree is easy to spot in salt marshes because of its fluffy fruit.

Examples

The white tufts on the cotton-seed tree help its seeds disperse on the wind.
During their hike, they identified several cotton-seed trees growing near the water's edge.
The cotton-seed tree is often found in coastal areas.
Have you seen a cotton-seed tree before?
The cotton-seed tree produces soft, white tufts that float away in the breeze.
In the marsh, we came across a cotton-seed tree with its distinctive fluffy fruit.
The cotton-seed tree thrives in salty environments, making it a common sight by the shore.

Synonyms

groundsel tree

vscotton-seed tree

9.9

A shrub with white fluffy seeds that grows in salt marshes

is the alternative common name for the same shrub

groundsel bush

vscotton-seed tree

9.9

A shrub that grows in salt marshes and has white feathery tufts on its fruit

is the alternate common name differing only in form

Baccharis halimifolia

vscotton-seed tree

Specialized

9.9

A shrub that grows in salty coastal marshes with seeds in white fluffy tufts

is defined more narrowly as native to eastern and south central regions

consumption weed

vscotton-seed tree

9.9

A bush that grows in salt marshes with fruit surrounded by white feathery hairs

is the same shrub but named differently in other sources

Surface Forms

cotton-seed tree singular

cotton-seed trees plural

Morphology

cotton-seed + tree

The compound is transparently built from 'cotton' + 'seed' + 'tree' and denotes a tree whose seeds are surrounded by cotton-like tufts, so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the basic meaning. Although 'cotton-seed' is not listed separately, this kind of descriptive botanical compounding is cross-linguistically common and therefore immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Cotton-seed tree gets its name from the plant's white, soft tufts that look like cotton wrapped around the seeds. Those cotton-like tufts help the seeds travel on the wind, so the name now refers to a shrub with 'fluffy' fruit.