foxtail barley
- noun
- /ˈfɑkˌsteɪl ˈbɑrli/
- Specialized
:
cebada cola de zorro
- The garden featured a border of foxtail barley swaying in the wind.
Examples
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The foxtail barley swayed gently in the breeze.
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The silky awns of foxtail barley created a shimmering effect under the summer sun.
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Farmers sometimes regard foxtail barley as a troublesome weed in their fields.
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Many gardeners appreciate foxtail barley for its beauty.
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The garden was filled with foxtail barley, its feathery flower heads swaying gently in the breeze.
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During our hike, we spotted patches of foxtail barley growing near the riverbank, attracting many insects.
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In North America, foxtail barley is often admired for its long, silky awns that create a stunning visual display.
Synonyms
A grass with long, silky flower heads often grown in gardens
A grass with long soft feathery flower heads often grown to look nice
A grass with feathery flower heads and long silky hairs
How Ornamental
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally built from 'foxtail' (a grass with dense, silky flowering spikes) + 'barley' (a cereal), so the meaning — a type of barley with foxtail-like flower heads — is directly inferable from the constituents. This noun–noun compounding pattern is canonical and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would be expected to understand the term.
Etymology
Foxtail barley gets its name from the plant's top, which looks like a foxtail, a soft 'fox's tail' of long, silky hairs on the barley head that waves in the wind. So the name helps you picture this plant with shiny, tail-like flower heads that can be pretty in gardens or a troublesome weed in fields.