starry saxifrage
- noun
- UK
:
saxifraga estrellada
- She photographed the delicate white flowers of the starry saxifrage during her hike in the Alps.
Examples
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The starry saxifrage blooms beautifully between rocky crevices in the mountains every spring.
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Botanists noted that the starry saxifrage prefers damp, shaded habitats in alpine regions.
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The starry saxifrage blooms in the spring.
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I saw beautiful starry saxifrages in the garden.
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Botanists noted that the starry saxifrage prefers damp, shaded habitats in alpine regions.
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She photographed the delicate white flowers of the starry saxifrage during her hike in the Alps.
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The starry saxifrage blooms beautifully between rocky crevices in the mountains every spring.
Synonyms
A small mountain plant that grows close to the ground with white star-shaped flowers
A small mountain plant with star-shaped white flowers that grows in low mats
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly composed from 'starry' (having star-like appearance) modifying 'saxifrage' (a type of plant), so the phrase denotes a saxifrage with star-like flowers. This adjective+noun composition follows normal English patterns and would be immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Starry saxifrage comes from how the plant looks and where it grows. The word saxifrage comes from old words meaning 'rock-breaker' because the plant grows in cracks and can seem to split rocks, and starry describes its small white flowers that look like stars, so the name fits the little mountain plant you find between stones.
