sweet pepperbush
- noun
- US
:
arbusto de pimiento dulce
- The sweet pepperbush is admired for its lovely spikes of fragrant white flowers in summer.
- sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
Examples
-
Among them are sweet pepperbush, with spikes of white flowers, and winterberry, a holly whose brilliant red berries persist even after the leaves have fallen off.
Academic text (1998) -
During the summer, the sweet pepperbush adds beauty to the landscape with its striking white flower spikes.
-
Others are swamp rose, winterberry, sweet pepperbush, brook alder, and swamp azalea.
Academic text (1998) -
In my garden, the sweet pepperbush attracts pollinators with its sweet-smelling blossoms.
Synonyms
A shrub with sweet-smelling white flower spikes that attract insects
A bush with fragrant white flowers that bloom in summer
A shrub from eastern US coasts with clusters of fragrant white flowers
How Fragrant
Surface Forms
Morphology
sweet + pepperbush
Partly transparent: a B1 learner who knows 'sweet' and recognizes 'bush' can infer this refers to a shrub with a pleasant scent (i.e., a fragrant bush). However 'pepperbush' is a lexicalized plant name (not found in the provided dictionary) and the precise botanical meaning and specific floral characteristics are not fully predictable from the constituents, so full understanding requires prior exposure.
Etymology
Sweet pepperbush probably gets its name from the smell of its flowers: sweet points to a pleasant scent and pepperbush points to a faint 'peppery' or spicy note in the blooms. So the name helps you remember it is a shrub with fragrant, slightly spicy flowers.