yellow lady's slipper
- noun
- /ˈjɛloʊ ˈleɪdiz ˈslɪpər/
- The yellow lady's slipper is a stunning flower.
- yellow lady's slipper orchid
Examples
-
Photographers travel each spring to capture the yellow lady's slipper in bloom.
-
Some gardeners protect wild yellow lady's slipper orchids in nature reserves.
-
The yellow lady's slipper is a rare and beautiful orchid found in woodlands.
-
I saw a yellow lady's slipper in the garden.
-
The yellow lady's slipper is a rare orchid admired for its unique yellow, slipper-shaped lip.
-
Many gardeners strive to cultivate the stunning yellow lady's slipper in their flowerbeds.
-
During springtime, the yellow lady's slipper blooms, attracting many visitors to the botanical garden.
Synonyms
A type of orchid with a yellow pouch-shaped lip and dark red-brown petals
An orchid with dark red to purple-brown flowers and a bright yellow slipper-shaped lip
An orchid with dark red flowers and a yellow slipper-shaped lip
A wild orchid found in eastern and central North America with yellow slipper-shaped flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
yellow + lady's + slipper
The phrase transparently signals a yellow object described as a 'lady's slipper' (i.e., something shaped like a woman's slipper), so a learner who knows the words would likely imagine a yellow, slipper‑shaped thing. However, the specific botanical sense — that this is a particular species of orchid — is specialized and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so prior exposure is needed to identify it as a flower.
Etymology
Yellow lady's slipper comes from the way the flower looks: the bright yellow lip forms a pouch that looks like a small slipper, as if a lady left a tiny shoe on the ground. That's why the name refers to a kind of 'orchid' with a yellow, slipper-shaped part.