southern blue flag

9.9

A tall plant like an iris with blue-violet flowers that grows in wet places in the eastern United States

noun

: bandera azul del sur

The southern blue flag blooms in wetlands across the southeastern United States each spring.

Examples

Gardeners noted that the southern blue flag thrived best in well-drained, marshy soils.
During the hike, we spotted several clusters of southern blue flag along the riverbank.
The southern blue flag blooms beautifully in spring.
Have you seen a southern blue flag in the garden?
During the hike, we spotted several clusters of southern blue flag along the riverbank.
Gardeners noted that the southern blue flag thrived best in well-drained, marshy soils.
The southern blue flag blooms in wetlands across the southeastern United States each spring.

Synonyms

Iris virginica

vssouthern blue flag

Specialized

9.3

A plant with blue or violet flowers that grows in wet places in the eastern United States

is the common name for the same species rather than the scientific form

Surface Forms

southern blue flag singular

southern blue flags plural

Morphology

southern + blue + flag

The term is compositionally built from 'southern' (from the south) + 'blue' (color) + 'flag' (a type of plant/iris), so a learner who knows those words can infer it denotes a blue-colored flag (iris) that grows in the southern region. This straightforward noun-noun compound pattern is a common, cross-linguistic naming pattern for plants and is therefore transparent to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.

Etymology

Southern blue flag gets its name from the flower's look: the long blue petals sit like a small flag by wet ground, so people called these plants 'flags'. People added southern to show where it grows, so the name means a blue 'iris' that lives in the southern United States.