'short-flowering' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'short' and 'flowering', where 'short' originally comes from Old English 'sceort' meaning 'short', and 'flower' ultimately comes from Latin 'flos, floris' meaning 'flower'.

'short' developed from Old English 'sceort' into Middle English 'short', and 'flower' passed into English via Old French 'flor' from Latin 'flos'; the compound 'short-flowering' is a modern English formation used in botanical and descriptive contexts.

Initially, the elements meant 'short' and 'flower' separately; over time they were combined to form the descriptive compound meaning 'having a short flowering period'.