elephant grass

American  

noun

1. napier grass.

2. a cattail, Typha elephantina, of southern Asia, used for making rope and baskets.

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elephant grass British  

noun

1. any of various stout tropical grasses or grasslike plants, esp Pennisetum purpureum, and Typha elephantina, a type of reed mace

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Etymology

Origin of elephant grass

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

They planted vetiver and elephant grass to hold the riverbank in place.

From New York Times

Then she hid nearby in a clump of elephant grass.

From Literature

St. Mary's Abbey in Glencairn, an enclosed order of Trappistine nuns in the southeast of Ireland, has planted 27 acres of bio-energy fuel Miscanthus, an Asian elephant grass, which has replaced oil as its main heat source.

From Reuters

On one side of them was thick forest; on the other was the brown river, and beyond that a tall tangle of elephant grass and bamboo.

From Literature

He recalled pulling off a side road lined with what he described as “elephant grass.”

From Los Angeles Times