ray flower
- noun
- Specialized
:
flor de rayo
- Sunflowers have yellow ray flowers surrounding a cluster of disk flowers in the middle.
Examples
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Botanists examined each ray flower under a microscope to study its structure.
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Sunflowers have large ray flowers that attract bees.
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The bright petals around the daisy are each a ray flower forming the plant's outer circle.
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The ray flower blooms in the spring.
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The garden was brightened by the colorful ray flowers that framed the cheerful sunflower heads.
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In spring, the field is filled with vibrant ray flowers that attract butterflies and bees.
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Each daisy has a crown of delicate ray flowers that adds to its charming appearance.
Synonyms
1
7.2
A very small flower that is part of a larger flower head
A small petal-like flower at the edge of a daisy or sunflower head
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is partly compositional: 'ray' (radiating branch) plus 'flower' suggests a flower that radiates or sits on the rays of a flower head, so a learner could infer it refers to peripheral/strap-like flowers. However, the precise botanical sense (the specific small, strap-shaped marginal florets in composites) is technical and not fully predictable from everyday knowledge of the constituents, making the term only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The noun ray flower comes from the word ray, which meant 'a line of light' from the sun. The long, flat petals around the middle of a daisy or sunflower spread out like those sun rays, so people used ray flower to name the outer flower parts.