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red valerian

red valerian

7.8
A garden plant with clusters of small sweet smelling red or white flowers
  • noun
translation icon : valeriana roja
  • In my garden, the red valerian blooms beautifully throughout the summer.

Examples

  • There's some red valerian that's pretty much bloomed out.

  • The red valerian attracts many butterflies with its fragrant flowers.

  • During the walk, we admired the clusters of red valerian growing along the path.

Synonyms

Centranthus ruber
vsred valerian
  • Specialized
9.9

A European garden plant with groups of small red or white sweet-smelling flowers, called red valerian

is the common garden name used in general speech

Surface Forms

red valerian singular
red valerian plural

Morphology

red + valerian

This is a straightforward adjectival modification: 'red' simply describes the color of the noun 'valerian' (a plant). The meaning is directly compositional and follows a common adjective+noun pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand it.

Etymology

The name red valerian comes from the plant's bright red or pink flower clusters and from the word valerian, the kind of plant it is. So the name simply means a 'valerian' that is 'red'.