obedient plant
- noun
- /oʊˈbiːdiənt plænt/
- Specialized
:
planta obediente
- Gardeners appreciate the obedient plant because its flowers can be positioned in different directions.
- obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)
Examples
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I planted a row of obedient plants along the fence to add color in late summer.
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The obedient plant blooms beautifully in late summer.
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The obedient plant brightened up the garden with its striking pink blossoms.
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I love the obedient plants in my garden.
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The obedient plant produces stunning spikes of pink flowers that attract butterflies.
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In the garden, the obedient plant stands out with its vibrant white blooms during the late summer.
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Many gardeners love to cultivate the obedient plant for its long-lasting, colorful spikes of flowers.
Synonyms
A North American garden plant with tall spikes of pink or white flowers
A garden plant from North America with a tall stem of two-lipped pink or white flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
obedient + plant
This is a straightforward adjective + noun combination: the meaning is literally a plant described as 'obedient', so a learner who knows 'obedient' and 'plant' can infer it refers to a kind of plant with that property. The name is descriptive rather than idiomatic or metaphorical, so its referent (a garden plant species) is predictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Obedient plant got its name from a simple garden trick: one popular story says its stems and flowers can be pushed into a new position and they stay there. So the obedient plant seems to 'obey' your touch, which explains the name.
