feather grass

American  

noun

1. any American grass of the genus Stipa, having a feathery appendage.

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feather grass British  

noun

1. a perennial grass, Stipa pennata, native to the steppes of Europe and N Asia, cultivated as an ornament for its feathery inflorescence

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Etymology

Origin of feather grass

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

Balancing our composition, the flowering stems of giant feather grass introduce airiness and movement to the summer garden.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 7, 2023

Over the last two decades in Paris, the winter temperatures have risen, allowing him to cultivate, say, Mexican feather grass sooner than he could have in the past.

From New York Times • Dec. 6, 2019

Nassella tenuissima, or Mexican feather grass, grows low, finely tufted green ponytails that flower into fluffy flaxen strands of 2 feet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 5, 2018

They swapped the turf for feather grass and sedge, and added lavender, yarrow, cranesbill geranium, Pacific coast iris, and numerous varieties of sage and succulents.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 20, 2018

The soil is sandy and gravelly glacial till which will raise little else beside feather grass and sumac.

From Northern Nut Growers Association, report of the proceedings at the eighth annual meeting Stamford, Connecticut, September 5 and 6, 1917 by Northern Nut Growers Association