summer cohosh
- noun
- /ˈsʌmər ˈkoʊhɑːʃ/
- US
:
cohosh de verano
- The shady woodlands are home to the elegant summer cohosh in full bloom each June.
Examples
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Many gardeners plant summer cohosh to attract pollinators with its tall clusters of white flowers.
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Native Americans historically used the root of summer cohosh for medicinal purposes.
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Many gardeners plant summer cohosh to attract pollinators with its showy flowers.
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The summer cohosh blooms beautifully in the garden.
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Have you seen the summer cohosh growing near the trail?
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The shady woodlands are home to the beautiful summer cohosh, which blooms each June.
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Native Americans historically harvested summer cohosh for its medicinal root and unique flowers.
Synonyms
A tall plant from the woods of eastern North America with spikes of white flowers
A plant from eastern North America with tall spikes of white flowers and large leaves
A North American plant with large leaves that has chemicals used in medicine but can be poisonous
Surface Forms
Morphology
summer + cohosh
This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'summer' modifies 'cohosh', so the phrase denotes a type of cohosh associated with summer. Given that pattern, a B1 learner who knows both constituents (in particular 'cohosh' as a plant name) can derive the meaning; the compositional pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
The name summer cohosh may come from two simple ideas: summer, because the plant flowers then, and cohosh, a word used by Native Americans for plants used as medicine. It is also called 'bugbane' because people thought it kept insects away, so the name points to a useful woodland plant that blooms in summer.
