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Glite Dictionary
poverty grass

poverty grass

9.9
A small plant that grows on sandy dunes near the sea with pale, fuzzy leaves
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : hierba de la pobreza
  • The pale color and fuzzy texture make poverty grass easy to identify among the coastal vegetation.

Examples

  • A patch of poverty grass grew along the sandy dunes by the sea.

  • Conservationists are working to protect habitats where poverty grass thrives.

  • The poverty grass thrives in sandy soil.

  • Have you seen the poverty grasses along the coast?

  • A patch of poverty grass grew along the sandy dunes by the sea.

  • The pale color and fuzzy texture make poverty grass easy to identify among the coastal vegetation.

  • Conservationists are working to protect habitats where poverty grass thrives.

Synonyms

Hudsonia tomentosa
vspoverty grass
  • Specialized
9.9

Small plant with soft white hairs that grows on sandy beaches in northeastern North America

is the common name rather than the formal Latin name
beach heather
vspoverty grass
  • US
8.6

A small plant with fine white hairs that grows on sandy beaches in northeastern North America

is an alternate common name used for the same species

Surface Forms

poverty grass singular
poverty grasses plural

Morphology

poverty + grass

A B1 learner who knows 'poverty' (lack/poor conditions) and 'grass' (a plant) could plausibly infer this refers to a kind of grass associated with poor or sandy conditions, so there is a recognizable link to the constituents. However, the precise botanical sense — a small heathlike plant covered with white down found on northeastern beaches — is a specific regional species name that is not fully predictable from the parts, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

Poverty grass may come from the way the plant grows on very poor, sandy soil where almost nothing else can grow. The words poverty and grass show a thin, pale, fuzzy plant in 'poor' soil, so the name now means this small beach plant.