partridge pea
- noun
- /ˈpɑrtrɪdʒ pi/
- Specialized
:
guisante perdiz
- The partridge pea blooms in late summer with bright yellow flowers across the prairies.
Examples
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We spotted several partridge pea plants along the hiking trail, their pods rattling in the breeze.
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Gardeners value the partridge pea for its ability to attract pollinators and enrich the soil.
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Look at that partridge pea!
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What a lovely partridge pea!
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Gardeners value the partridge pea for its ability to attract pollinators and enrich the soil.
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The partridge pea blooms in late summer with bright yellow flowers across the prairies.
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We spotted several partridge pea plants along the hiking trail, their pods rattling in the breeze.
Synonyms
A small plant with yellow flowers whose leaves fold when touched
A tropical American plant with small leaves that fold when touched and yellow flowers
A small tropical plant with leaves that close when touched
A tropical plant whose small leaf parts close when touched
How Sensitive
- Specialized
1
8.1
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a regular noun+noun compound where 'pea' is the head signaling a leguminous plant and 'partridge' modifies its type; a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer it denotes a kind of pea/plant even if they don't know the exact species. The composition follows common English naming patterns for plants (e.g. 'sweet pea', 'buttercup'), so the meaning is transparently derived from the constituents.
Etymology
Partridge pea may come from a simple picture: the plant has small, pea-like pods and its seeds were eaten by the bird partridge, so people linked partridge and pea in the name. That's why the name points to a plant with pea-like seeds that often attract or feed partridges.