Skip to main content
blackseed

blackseed

9.9
A grass from the West Indies that often has dark fungus on its stems
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : hierba negra
  • Blackseed is a hardy plant that thrives in the warm climates of the southern United States.

Examples

  • In the West Indies, blackseed can be found growing wild in many open fields.

  • Farmers often struggle to manage the dark fungus that infests the blackseed crop.

  • Carmine did, Blackseed, Winter, Tye.

Synonyms

smut grass
vsblackseed
  • US
9.9

A grass with thin stiff stems often covered by dark fungus

is another common name with identical meaning expressed differently
Sporobolus poiretii
vsblackseed
  • Specialized
9.9

A type of grass with thin stems that grow in small clumps from the southern United States and West Indies

is the nontechnical common name rather than the formal scientific label

Surface Forms

blackseed singular
blackseeds plural

Morphology

blackseed = black + seed (semi-transparent) = black + seed

The components 'black' and 'seed' are literal and detectable, but the compound names a specific grass species (and its typical infestation) rather than a generic black seed, so the exact meaning may not be fully predictable.

Etymology

The word blackseed is made of the common words black and seed, literally 'black' and 'seed', and it names a grass that often has dark seeds or a dark fungus on its stems. So the name helps you remember the plant by its dark parts.