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Glite Dictionary
leafy spurge

leafy spurge

1 9.8
A tall plant with greenish-yellow flowers that spreads and harms grasses and crops
  • noun
  • /ˈliːfi spɜrdʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : euphorbia esula
  • "There is no question that biological control will be a key to long-term control of leafy spurge," says Neal R. Spencer, an entomologist who leads research at ARS' Northern Plains Agricultural Research Station in Sidney, Montana.
  • weeds, such as leafy spurge
  • leafy spurge control
  • leafy spurge flea beetle

So if you feed sheep leafy spurge for a while, yeah.

Examples

  • An insect that loves to eat leafy spurge, a range weed now infesting 2.5 million acres on the Northern Plains, may bring some relief to farmers and ranchers.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Research by Walker and others has shown that sheep can be used to manage noxious weeds, such as leafy spurge, spotted knapweed, and tall larkspur.

    Academic text (1995)

  • They also set up 30 test sites for leafy spurge control, some on reservations.

    Academic text (1994)

  • ARS began research on biological control of leafy spurge in the 1970s at laboratories in California, Montana, and Italy.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Researchers at this laboratory helped discover and test agents for control of leafy spurge and saltcedar—today's emerging success stories.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Today the lab works on agents to control saltcedar, leafy spurge, several aquatic weeds, and some insect pests.

    Academic text (2000)

  • First identified in the United States in 1827, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) now infests at least 5 million acres in 35 states and Canadian provinces.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Major weed targets now include leafy spurge, saltcedar, Russian and yellow starthistle, Russian knapweed, and perennial mustards such as hoary cress.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The farmer struggled to control the spread of leafy spurge after it invaded his pasture and outcompeted native plants.

  • In our biology class, we learned about how leafy spurge can harm local ecosystems by reducing biodiversity.

Synonyms

Euphorbia esula
vsleafy spurge
  • UK
9.8

A tall plant from Europe and Asia that lives for many years and spreads like a weed in North America

is the common everyday name rather than the scientific form
wolf's milk
vsleafy spurge
  • US
9.9

A tall weed with many leaves that spreads quickly and harms crops

is the formal or scientific name used in labels and texts

Surface Forms

leafy spurge singular
leafy spurges plural

Morphology

leafy + spurge

This is a straightforward adjective + noun compound: 'leafy' modifies 'spurge', so a learner who knows 'spurge' (a kind of plant) will infer it denotes a spurge with abundant leaves. The meaning is compositionally derived following a common cross-linguistic pattern, so it is immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.

Etymology

Leafy spurge: The name leafy spurge comes from the plant's look: leafy points to its many green leaves and spurge is a group of plants with a sticky white sap that was used in old medicine. Because it spreads fast and crowds out other plants, it became known as a troublesome 'weed'.