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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
: 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

wolf's milk
vsleafy spurge
  • US
1 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
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

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'.