tara vine
- noun
- Indian
:
tara
- Clusters of white flowers appear on the tara vine each spring before fruiting.
Examples
-
Many villagers harvest the edible fruit of the tara vine to use in local cuisine.
-
The tara vine grows rapidly in the warm, humid climate of Southeast Asia.
-
The tara vine grows abundantly in tropical regions.
-
Have you ever seen a tara vine in bloom?
-
The tara vine produces clusters of white flowers that attract many pollinators.
-
Villagers often gather the greenish-yellow fruit of the tara vine for their recipes.
-
In Southeast Asia, the tara vine is known for its long, finely serrated leaves.
Synonyms
A climbing plant from East Asia that makes small edible fruits like tiny kiwis
A climbing Asian vine with long jagged leaves and white flower bunches that make small edible greenish-yellow fruit
Surface Forms
Morphology
tara + vine
The head noun 'vine' clearly signals a plant with long, twining stems, so a learner who knows both words would infer that 'tara vine' refers to a particular kind of vine. However 'tara' is a lexicalized species/place name with no transparent, compositional meaning, so the specific botanical properties cannot be derived from the parts alone, making the overall phrase only partially predictable.
Etymology
Tara vine may come from the word tara, which means 'star' in some Asian languages, because its many small white flowers look like little stars. Vine shows it is a climbing plant. So the name helps you remember the plant: a climbing vine with white, star-like flowers and edible fruit.
