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spring cress

spring cress

7.7
A small plant with white flowers that grows in wet places near streams
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : berroa de primavera
  • The wet meadow was dotted with delicate, white-flowered spring cress.

Examples

  • We found patches of spring cress growing near the edge of the stream.

  • Botanists are studying how spring cress thrives in marshy habitats.

  • The spring cress blooms beautifully in the spring.

  • I found some spring cresses by the riverbank.

  • The wet meadow was dotted with delicate, white-flowered spring cress.

  • We found patches of spring cress growing near the edge of the stream.

  • Botanists are studying how spring cress thrives in marshy habitats.

Synonyms

Cardamine bulbosa
vsspring cress
  • Specialized
9.9

A small plant with white flowers that grows in wet places in eastern North America

is the general common plant description rather than the formal species label

Surface Forms

spring cress singular

Morphology

spring + cress

The compound is a straightforward combination of 'spring' (the season) and 'cress' (a small salad/leafy plant), so its meaning as a type of cress associated with or flowering in spring is directly derivable from the constituents. Season+plant naming is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand this MWE.

Etymology

Spring cress probably comes from the simple picture of a small cress that appears in the 'spring' season or near a water 'spring'. That's why the name means a little white-flowered plant that grows in wet places by streams and marshes.