ram's-head lady's slipper

9.9

A rare wild orchid with a red and white lip shaped like a ram's head

noun
/ræmz hɛd ˈleɪdiz ˈslɪpər/

: zapato de dama

The distinctive lip of the ram's-head lady's slipper makes it easy to identify among wild orchids.

Examples

The ram's-head lady's slipper blooms in late spring in cool, shaded forests.
The ram's-head lady's slipper is a beautiful orchid.
Botanists were thrilled to discover a colony of the rare ram's-head lady's slippers in the park.
Did you see the ram's-head lady's slipper in the garden?
Botanists were thrilled to discover a colony of the rare ram's-head lady's slippers in the park.
The ram's-head lady's slipper blooms in late spring in cool, shaded forests.
The distinctive lip of the ram's-head lady's slipper makes it easy to identify among wild orchids.

Synonyms

ram's-head

vsram's-head lady's slipper

1 9.9

A rare North American orchid with a brownish-green flower and a red-and-white lip shaped like a small horned animal's head

is the longer full common name form

Cypripedium arietinum

vsram's-head lady's slipper

Specialized

9.9

A small wild orchid with a red-and-white pouch that looks like a ram's head

is the common English name rather than the Latin form

Surface Forms

ram's-head lady's slipper singular

ram's-head lady's slippers plural

Morphology

ram's-head + lady's + slipper

This is a descriptive compound name: 'lady's slipper' is a common term for a slipper-shaped orchid and 'ram's-head' specifies that the flower or lip resembles a ram's head. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would reasonably infer it names a particular orchid with a ram-head-like appearance, so the meaning is compositionally derivable.

Etymology

Ram's-head lady's slipper comes from how the flower looks: the middle part looks like a ram's-head and the pouch looks like a small lady's slipper shoe. So, the name describes the flower and helps people spot this rare 'orchid'.