cuckoo flower
- noun
- /ˈkʌkuː ˈflaʊə/
- UK
:
flor de cucú
- In the meadows each spring, cuckoo flower blooms with delicate pink petals.
Examples
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The cuckoo flower is often found along riverbanks and damp grasslands.
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Gardeners sometimes plant cuckoo flower for its beauty and to attract pollinators.
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The cuckoo flower blooms in early spring.
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I spotted a cuckoo flower in the meadow.
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In the meadows each spring, cuckoo flower blooms with delicate pink petals.
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Gardeners sometimes plant cuckoo flower for its beauty and to attract pollinators.
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The cuckoo flower is often found along riverbanks and damp grasslands.
Synonyms
A plant that lives many years with light purple flowers in spring
A wild plant with small pale pink or white flowers that grows in damp meadows
A small wildflower with pale purple or white flowers that grows in damp grassy fields
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'cuckoo flower' is transparently a type of flower because a B1 learner who knows 'cuckoo' (a bird) and 'flower' (a plant reproductive part) will readily infer it names a flower associated with or likened to the cuckoo. While the precise botanical details (perennial, species name) are not predictable, the basic category and referential meaning are compositional and cross-linguistically common for plant names.
Etymology
Cuckoo flower: one popular story says people noticed the pale pink blooms appearing just as the cuckoo bird began to call in 'spring', so the plant was named for that time. So the name links cuckoo and flower and explains why the plant is tied to 'spring'.
