flag smut

9.9

A disease of wheat and other grasses that makes dark powdery streaks on leaves and stems

noun
/flæɡ smʌt/

Specialized

: mancha de bandera

The flag smut outbreak has devastated local wheat fields.

Examples

Symptoms of flag smut include black streaks on the leaves and stems.
The wheat crop was badly damaged by flag smut this season.
Farmers are advised to use resistant varieties to prevent flag smut.
Farmers are concerned about flag smut affecting their crops.
Farmers must monitor their crops for flag smut, as it can severely affect wheat yields.
The presence of flag smut on cereal plants is indicated by dark, powdery patches on the leaves.
To prevent flag smut, it's important to use resistant wheat varieties in areas where the disease is known to occur.

Synonyms

flag smut fungus

vsflag smut

Specialized

9.0

A disease of wheat and other grasses that makes dark streaks and black dust

is about dark powdery streaks or patches visible on leaves and stems

Surface Forms

flag smut singular

flag smuts plural

Morphology

flag + smut

The noun compound transparently combines 'flag' (a plant/plant part) and 'smut' (a fungal disease), so the meaning — a smut disease affecting flags or flag-like leaves — is directly inferable from the constituents. This follows regular English noun+noun compound patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably deduce the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Flag smut gets its name from how it looks: the top leaf of a cereal plant, called the flag, becomes covered in dark, dusty patches of fungus, which is the smut. So flag smut means the fungal disease that makes black streaks or patches on leaves and stems.