🌾 A woolly sedge 🌿 A tall grass

wool grass

9.9

A marsh plant with many grouped soft, fuzzy seed heads

noun

: hierba de lana

In the wetlands of eastern North America, wool grass grows in clusters, contributing to the rich biodiversity of the area.

Examples

The marsh was dotted with patches of wool grass swaying in the breeze.
In wet meadows, wool grass provides habitat for many small animals.
Botanists study wool grass for its unique, woolly seed heads.
The wool grass swayed gently in the breeze.
I saw patches of wool grass in the wetlands.
The fluffy, clustered spikes of wool grass make it an interesting plant for gardeners seeking unique textures.
During our hike, we noticed that the wool grass was particularly vibrant after the rainy season.

Synonyms

Scirpus cyperinus

vswool grass

Specialized

9.9

A tall grass-like plant with many woolly flower clusters that grows in wet places in eastern North America

is the common name used in everyday language

Surface Forms

wool grass singular

wool grasses plural

Morphology

wool + grass

The noun compound transparently signals a grass that is wool-like — combining 'wool' (soft, fluffy) with 'grass' gives the clear idea of a grass with woolly or fluffy appearance, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the general concept. However, the specific botanical details (tall habit, white-ribbed leaves, plume-like flower heads like pampas grass) are not fully predictable from the constituents, so the relation is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Wool grass comes from a grass-like plant whose many small seed heads form soft, woolly tufts on the grass. People saw the clumps of wool and used that picture, so the name now means 'a plant with woolly seed heads'.