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Glite Dictionary
sagebrush mariposa tulip

sagebrush mariposa tulip

9.9
A wild flower with one to three pale purple flowers on tall stems in dry hills
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : tulipán mariposa de salvia
  • The sagebrush mariposa tulip blooms in May, adding washes of pale purple to the grasslands.

Examples

  • We spotted a cluster of sagebrush mariposa tulips during our hike east of the Cascade Mountains.

  • Botanists consider the sagebrush mariposa tulip an indicator species for the region's dry hillsides.

  • The sagebrush mariposa tulip blooms in the spring.

  • Have you seen the sagebrush mariposa tulips in bloom?

  • The sagebrush mariposa tulip blooms in May, adding washes of pale purple to the grasslands.

  • We spotted a cluster of sagebrush mariposa tulips during our hike east of the Cascade Mountains.

  • Botanists consider the sagebrush mariposa tulip an indicator species for the region's dry hillsides.

Synonyms

Calochortus macrocarpus
vssagebrush mariposa tulip
  • Specialized
9.9

A North American wildflower with one to three lilac flowers on a tall stem that grows in dry areas

is the everyday common name used more generally for the same plant

Surface Forms

sagebrush mariposa tulip singular
sagebrush mariposa tulips plural

Morphology

sagebrush + mariposa + tulip

This is a compositional compound noun: the head 'tulip' (a flower) is specified by the modifiers 'mariposa' (a type of flowering plant) and 'sagebrush' (habitat/association), so a learner who knows the three words can infer it is a kind of tulip related to mariposa lilies and associated with sagebrush areas. There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift — the meaning is built from the constituents following normal noun-modifier composition, making it transparent to learners who know the parts.

Etymology

Sagebrush mariposa tulip paints a picture of a pale, butterfly-like lily called a mariposa tulip growing among low sagebrush on dry hills. Because it appears in those dry places, people use it as an 'indicator' that the land is dry.