reed canary grass
- noun
- /rid kəˈnɛri ɡræs/
- UK
:
hierba canaria
- Farmers often find reed canary grass thriving in marshy areas, where its wide leaves can be easily distinguished.
Examples
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The gardener decided to plant reed canary grass along the edge of the pond to enhance the natural beauty of the landscape.
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More than 144,000 individual plants representing 13 species were planted, including soft rush, common cattail, reed canary grass, and herstem bulrush.
Academic text (1996) -
In the wetlands, reed canary grass grows taller than most other plants, creating a lush habitat for wildlife.
Synonyms
A tall grass with wide leaves that grows in wet places
A grass with broad leaves that grows in wet meadows and ditches
A grass with broad leaves that grows for many years in marshy meadows and ditches
A grass that lives for many years with broad striped leaves that grows in wet places like ponds and ditches
Surface Forms
Morphology
The form is compositionally built from nouns: 'reed' + 'canary' + 'grass' clearly indicates a kind of grass, so a learner who knows the constituents will infer it names a tall, reed-like grass. While the specific botanical sense or why 'canary' appears may be unfamiliar, the basic meaning 'a type of grass' follows normal compound-noun patterns and is directly derivable.
Etymology
Reed canary grass gets its name from two simple ideas: it grows tall like a reed, and it is related to a plant called canary grass whose seeds were used as 'bird seed' for pet canaries. So the name describes a tall wetland grass you often find by rivers and ditches.
