wiregrass

7.4

A tough thin grass that grows in sandy dry areas and shelters animals

noun
/ˈwaɪərˌɡræs/

: hierba de alambre

To address habitat damage from mid-20th-century timber harvesting, which noticeably uprooted the forest floor as part of site preparation, his program focused early on the need to restore wiregrass, the critical ground cover.
wiregrass region

Examples

This cash crop proved to be ideally suited for the small family agricultural unit, which frequently totaled only forty or fifty acres and was common throughout the wiregrass region.

Academic text (2007)
A dense forest with its southern yellow pines and thriving undergrowth of seasonal wiregrass covered much of the area.

Academic text (2007)
By the late 1920s, chicken production throughout the wiregrass region increased, and railroad officials took heart.

Academic text (2007)
The new century for the wiregrass region dawned bright, just as it did for most of the nation.

Academic text (2007)
As production increased in the wiregrass, especially to the south and west of Douglas, car loadings soared.

Academic text (2007)
The G&F was not alone in promoting a promising replacement cash crop for cotton in the wiregrass region.

Academic text (2007)
The wiregrass countryside was hardly a Dixie showplace.

Academic text (2007)
The company's most enduring triumphs, which have been nearly forgotten, occurred in South Georgia, heart of the wiregrass region.

Academic text (2007)
Although a few areas of the state, namely the North Georgia mountains and the South Georgia wiregrass region, staged periodic resistance, such resistance was scattered and rarely organized.

Academic text (2014)
In the sandy soil of the southeastern United States, wiregrass thrives, providing a crucial habitat for local wildlife.

Synonyms

wire grass

vswiregrass

7.2

A hardy North American grass that has stiff stems and pale brown leaves in autumn

is found in sandy dry regions and stresses tough, coarse texture

Surface Forms

wiregrass singular

wiregrasses plural

Morphology

wiregrass = wire + grass (transparent) = wire + grass

The compound straightforwardly denotes a type of grass that is wire-like or has wiry stems, so knowing 'wire' and 'grass' yields the meaning.

Etymology

The word wiregrass is made of the parts wire and grass, where wire means 'thin metal' and is used because the plant has very stiff, wiry leaves, and grass shows it is a grass. So the name helps you remember it is a tough grass that often grows in dry, sandy places.