grass tree

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noun

any Australian plant of the genus Xanthorrhoea, of the lily family, having a stout, woody stem bearing a tuft of long grasslike leaves and a dense flower spike.

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Origin of grass tree

First recorded in 1795–1805

Words nearby grass tree

grass snake, grass snipe, grass sorghum, grass sponge, grass style, grass tree, grass up, grass widow, grass widower, grassy, grate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use grass tree in a sentence

The 'black boy,' as the grass-tree is called in the west, is often weird, and is essentially Australian.
Australian Pictures|Howard Willoughby
Look at the picture again and notice the odd plants near the brome-grass tree.
Mother Nature's Toy-Shop|Lina Beard
The Australian blacks use the flower-stem of the grass-tree, which is of a tough pithy nature, and about one inch in diameter.
The Art of Travel|Francis Galton
Hard wood spear, grass-tree end, barbed with flint, used with the throwing-stick for war.
Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland|Edward John Eyre

Some grass-tree country was also passed, covered with quartz pebbles, white, or colored with oxide of iron.
The Overland Expedition of The Messrs. Jardine|Frank Jardine and Alexander Jardine

British Dictionary definitions for grass tree

grass tree

noun

Also called: black boy, yacca, yacka any plant of the Australian genus Xanthorrhoea, having a woody stem, stiff grasslike leaves, and a spike of small white flowers: family Xanthorrhoeaceae . Some species produce fragrant resinsSee also acaroid gum

any of several similar Australasian plants

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012