flowering spurge
- noun
- /ˈflaʊərɪŋ spɜrdʒ/
- US
:
euphorbia floreciente
- The flowering spurge brightened the prairie with its delicate white bracts.
Examples
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We found a cluster of flowering spurge along the edge of the old field.
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The flowering spurge blooms beautifully in the summer.
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Gardeners often plant flowering spurge to attract butterflies to their landscapes.
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Look at that beautiful flowering spurge over there!
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Gardeners often plant flowering spurge to attract butterflies to their landscapes.
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We found a cluster of flowering spurge along the edge of the old field.
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The flowering spurge brightened the prairie with its delicate white bracts.
Synonyms
A North American plant that lives for many years and has white parts like petals
A plant that lives for many years with showy white parts that look like petals
A common plant in the United States that lives for many years with showy white parts that look like petals
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase composes 'flowering' (bearing blossoms) with 'spurge' (a type of plant), so its basic meaning — a spurge that is flowering / a flowering species of spurge — is directly derivable from the parts. Learners may not infer the exact species or botanical details, but the modifier+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and thus immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Flowering spurge combines flowering (for its showy white, petal-like leaves) and spurge, an old name for plants with a milky sap that people once used as a strong medicine. One popular story says that this sap could 'make people sick', so the name stuck, which is why flowering spurge now means the plant with those white, petal-like leaves found in fields and prairies.
