reed mace

noun

1. cattail.

reed mace

noun

1. Also called: bulrush.  false bulrush.  cat's-tail. a tall reedlike marsh plant, Typha latifolia , with straplike leaves and flowers in long brown sausage-shaped spikes: family Typhaceae See also bulrush

2. a related and similar plant, Typha angustifolia

Word History and Origins

Origin of reed mace¹

First recorded in 1540–50

Example Sentences

In the low marshy meadows were willows, 51 a kind of reed mace, cotton grass, rushes, and, in the water, adder's tongue.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

So the burr reed, among the prettiest of all the upright plants growing out of the water, is not a reed, but a reed mace.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

And in her long wet hair were the white flowers of the water-violet, and she held a reed mace in her hand.

Read more on Project Gutenberg