trifid beggar-ticks

9.9

A plant found in wet places with leaves in three parts and small yellow flowers whose seeds stick to clothes

noun

: margarita beggar trifida

Her field guide helped her identify the trifid beggar-ticks by their distinctive trifid leaves.

Examples

The wetland was full of trifid beggar-ticks growing among the other wildflowers.
After walking through the marsh, his socks were covered with seeds from trifid beggar-ticks.
Look at the trifid beggar-tick!
The trifid beggar-ticks bloom in the summer.
The wetland was full of trifid beggar-ticks growing among the other wildflowers.
Her field guide helped her identify the trifid beggar-ticks by their distinctive trifid leaves.
After walking through the marsh, his socks were covered with seeds from trifid beggar-ticks.

Synonyms

Bidens tripartita

vstrifid beggar-ticks

Specialized

9.9

A plant that grows near water with leaves in three parts and small yellow flowers

notes it commonly grows in wet habitats rather than just stating species

trifid bur marigold

vstrifid beggar-ticks

9.9

A riverbank plant with leaves divided into three parts, small yellow flowers, and seeds that stick to fur

is an alternate name used for the same plant

European beggar-ticks

vstrifid beggar-ticks

9.9

A plant with yellow flowers from Europe and Asia whose seeds have small hooks that stick to fur and clothes

focuses more on leaf shape and wet habitats rather than seed barbs

beggar-ticks

vstrifid beggar-ticks

9.9

A plant with yellow flowers and small prickly fruits that stick to fur or clothing

is the specific Eurasian species with trifid leaves rather than the whole group

beggar's lice

vstrifid beggar-ticks

9.9

A plant with small sticky seeds that attach to clothes or animal fur

is the particular Eurasian species with triple-lobed leaves and yellow flowers

Surface Forms

trifid beggar-ticks singular

trifid beggar-ticks plural

Morphology

trifid + beggar-ticks

The adjective 'trifid' clearly means 'three-lobed', so its contribution is transparent; however 'beggar-ticks' is a specialized plant name whose literal parts ('beggar' + 'ticks') do not transparently indicate 'a bur marigold' to a learner. A B1 learner who knows both constituents could infer 'a three-lobed beggar-tick' but not the specific botanical identity or ecological details, so the overall expression is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Trifid beggar-ticks shows two simple facts about the plant: trifid means the leaves are split into 'three parts', and beggar-ticks refers to the small seedheads that 'cling' to clothing like little hitchhikers. That's why the name means a wild plant with three-part leaves and sticky seeds that cling to people or animals.