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Glite Dictionary
flowering maple

flowering maple

7.1
A small garden tree or shrub with maple-shaped leaves and bright flowers
  • noun
  • /ˈflaʊərɪŋ ˈmeɪpəl/
translation icon : arce en flor
  • In spring, the flowering maple showcases vibrant, colorful blooms that brighten up the landscape.

Examples

  • Abutilon cvv. (flowering maple) (shown: 'Bella Pink')

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  • The garden is filled with beautiful flowering maple trees that attract many bees and butterflies.

  • We planted a flowering maple in our front yard for its lovely leaves and striking flowers.

Surface Forms

flowering maple singular
flowering maples plural

Morphology

flowering + maple

A B1 learner who knows 'flowering' and 'maple' will reasonably infer a plant that flowers and has maple-like characteristics (i.e., a maple-like plant with blossoms), so the basic idea is derivable from the constituents. However, the established botanical sense (an Abutilon shrub not a true maple) is a specialized, non-compositional detail that learners cannot deduce, making the expression only partly predictable.

Etymology

Flowering maple gets its name from the two words flowering and maple: people saw maple-shaped leaves and bright flowers on this shrub, so they called it a 'flowering maple'. That's why the name means 'a garden shrub with maple-like leaves and bright flowers'.