wild service tree

9.9

A European tree with lobed leaves and small brown spotted fruits you can eat

noun

: serbal

A wild service tree can be identified by its distinctively lobed leaves and brown, speckled fruits.

Examples

Conservationists are working to protect ancient wild service trees in European woodlands.
The wild service tree produces fruit that was once popular in traditional English country diets.
The wild service tree produces small, sweet fruits.
In spring, the wild service tree blooms beautifully.
A wild service tree can be identified by its distinctively lobed leaves and brown, speckled fruits.
The wild service tree produces fruit that was once popular in traditional English country diets.
Conservationists are working to protect ancient wild service trees in European woodlands.

Synonyms

Sorbus torminalis

vswild service tree

9.9

A European tree that loses its leaves and has small brown fruit with pale spots you can eat

is the common name for the same European tree

Surface Forms

wild service tree singular

wild service trees plural

Morphology

wild + service + tree

Although 'wild' and 'tree' are transparent, 'service' in this phrase is part of a lexicalized botanical name and does not carry a compositional meaning like 'help' or 'attend' that would point to a particular species. Common names for plants are often arbitrary or language-specific, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to derive that this refers to Sorbus torminalis.

Etymology

Wild service tree may come from an old country word for its small brown fruit, which people once called service. Because the tree grew in the wild in the woods rather than in gardens, the name helps you remember it is a woods tree with edible fruit.