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purple fringeless orchis

purple fringeless orchis

9.9
A small wild plant with rosy-purple flowers that grows in wet meadows in eastern North America
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : orquídea morada sin flecos
  • The purple fringeless orchis blooms in early summer across wet meadows and marshes.

Examples

  • She photographed a rare purple fringeless orchis while hiking in the Adirondack Mountains.

  • The purple fringeless orchis blooms in late spring.

  • Botanists found several purple fringeless orchises growing along the forest stream.

  • I saw a purple fringeless orchis in the garden.

  • Botanists found several purple fringeless orchises growing along the forest stream.

  • She photographed a rare purple fringeless orchis while hiking in the Adirondack Mountains.

  • The purple fringeless orchis blooms in early summer across wet meadows and marshes.

Synonyms

purple fringeless orchid
vspurple fringeless orchis
  • Specialized
9.9

An orchid from North America with rosy purple flowers and finely toothed leaves

uses a scientific Latin form of the name
Habenaria peramoena
vspurple fringeless orchis
  • Specialized
9.9

A wild orchid with fringed rosy-purple or violet flowers that grows in wet meadows in eastern North America

uses the everyday English name rather than the Latin form

Surface Forms

Morphology

purple + fringeless + Orchis

The noun phrase is fully compositional: 'purple' gives the color, 'fringeless' transparently means 'without a fringe' (the suffix -less is productive), and 'Orchis' denotes an orchid, so the combined meaning is an orchid that is purple and lacks a fringe. Botanical adjective + modifier + noun naming patterns are common and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Purple fringeless orchis is a name that paints a clear picture: purple for its rosy-violet flowers and fringeless because its flower lip has no feathery 'fringe' like related kinds. Orchis is an old word for a wild orchid, so the name simply points to a purple orchid without a fringe.