plumed tussock
- noun
- New Zealand
:
tussock plumoso
- The plumed tussock grows abundantly in the grasslands of New Zealand.
Examples
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In autumn, the seeds of the plumed tussock are carried away by the wind.
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Gardeners often choose plumed tussock for its striking, ornamental flower heads.
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The plumed tussock swayed gently in the wind.
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Many plumed tussocks grow in the wetlands of New Zealand.
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Gardeners often choose plumed tussock for its striking, ornamental flower heads.
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The plumed tussock grows abundantly in the grasslands of New Zealand.
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In autumn, the seeds of the plumed tussock are carried away by the wind.
Synonyms
A tall New Zealand grass with large feathery flower heads
A tall grass with feathery flower heads from New Zealand used for decoration and for making roofs
A tall grass from New Zealand grown for its feathery flower heads
A tall grass from New Zealand with soft feathery flower heads
A large New Zealand grass with tall flower stems that Maori use to cover roofs
A tall New Zealand grass with feathery flower heads that Māori use to cover roofs
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents contribute directly: 'plumed' means having feather- or plume-like tufts and 'tussock' is a clump or tuft of grass, so 'plumed tussock' is easily interpreted as a tuft of grass with plume-like flower heads. This straightforward adjective+noun composition is cross-linguistically common and should be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Plumed tussock comes from how the plant looks. Plumed refers to its feather-like flower heads and tussock means a clump of grass, so the name paints a picture of a tall clump with feathery flowers and that is why it means 'a tall grass with plume-like flower heads'.
