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giant potato creeper

giant potato creeper

9.9
A vine from Costa Rica with large purple-blue flowers and hook-shaped spines
  • noun
translation icon : enredadera de papa gigante
  • Botanists were amazed by the lilac-blue flowers of the giant potato creeper discovered during their expedition.

Examples

  • The hooklike spines of the giant potato creeper make it easy to recognize among other vines.

  • The giant potato creeper thrives in the shaded forests of Costa Rica.

  • The giant potato creeper is a unique plant.

  • Many gardeners love the giant potato creeper for its flowers.

  • Botanists were amazed by the lilac-blue flowers of the giant potato creeper discovered during their expedition.

  • The giant potato creeper thrives in the shaded forests of Costa Rica.

  • The hooklike spines of the giant potato creeper make it easy to recognize among other vines.

Synonyms

Solanum wendlandii
vsgiant potato creeper
  • Specialized
9.9

A climbing plant with hooklike spines and large lilac-blue flowers

is a vine described without stressing the climbing growth habit

Surface Forms

Morphology

giant + potato + creeper

The phrase transparently combines 'giant' (very large) + 'potato' (relating to the potato plant) + 'creeper' (a vine), so a learner who knows the constituents will infer it denotes a large vine associated with or resembling a potato plant. Although the precise botanical details (hooklike spines, lilac-blue flowers) are not deducible from the words, the core meaning is directly predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Giant potato creeper may come from how the plant looks: the word giant suggests 'large', potato points to its thick, potato-like roots, and creeper means 'a plant that climbs'. That's why the name brings to mind a large climbing vine with big lilac-blue flowers and hooklike spines.