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Glite Dictionary
Spartina cynosuroides

Spartina cynosuroides

9.9
A tall grass like reeds that grows in salty coastal marshes
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Spartina cynosuroides
  • Birds nest among the dense stands of Spartina cynosuroides in the summer.

Examples

  • Spartina cynosuroides thrives in coastal marshes.

  • Ecologists study communities where Spartina cynosuroides dominates the landscape.

  • Spartina cynosuroides is often found along the brackish edges of tidal marshes.

  • The Spartina cynosuroides is essential for local ecosystems.

  • Spartina cynosuroides is often found along the brackish edges of tidal marshes.

  • Birds nest among the dense stands of Spartina cynosuroides in the summer.

  • Ecologists study communities where Spartina cynosuroides dominates the landscape.

Synonyms

cordgrass
vsSpartina cynosuroides
  • Specialized
1 8.9

A tall grass that grows in coastal marshes and helps stop erosion

is one tall species native to eastern salt meadows rather than the coastal group
salt reed grass
vsSpartina cynosuroides
8.4

A tall plant like a reed that grows in salty marshes and meadows

is a specific tall reedlike species native to eastern North America
Spartina
vsSpartina cynosuroides
  • Specialized
9.3

A group of grasses that grow in freshwater swamps and salt marshes

is one species in that genus, limited to eastern salt meadows and coastal marshes

Surface Forms

Spartina cynosuroides singular
Spartina cynosuroides plural

Morphology

Spartina + cynosuroides

This is a Latin binomial (genus + specific epithet) used as a scientific name; knowing 'Spartina' as a genus may tell a learner it is a grass, but the epithet 'cynosuroides' is a non‑transparent, specialized morphological/etymological element not found in learner vocabulary. The overall referent (a particular species of tall, reed‑like grass) cannot be reliably derived by a B1 learner from the constituent parts, so the expression is opaque.

Etymology

Spartina cynosuroides may come from old words meaning a 'dog's tail' because cynosuroides describes the plant's long, thin flower spikes. So the name fits a tall, reed-like grass that grows in salt meadows and coastal marshes.