reed mace

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reed mace

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

reed mace

1. (Plants) Also called: bulrush (popularly), false bulrush or 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 bulrush²

2. (Plants) a related and similar plant, Typha angustifolia

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun

reed mace - tall marsh plant with cylindrical seed heads that explode when mature shedding large quantities of down; its long flat leaves are used for making mats and chair seats; of North America, Europe, Asia and North Africa

bullrush, bulrush, cat's-tail, nailrod, reedmace, Typha latifolia

cattail - tall erect herbs with sword-shaped leaves; cosmopolitan in fresh and salt marshes

References in periodicals archive ?

Then, the narcissus is "croeso'r gwanwyn" (Spring welcomer) and the great reed mace or bulrush is variously called "cynffon y gath" (cat's tail), "ffon y plant" (children's stick) or "penmelfed" (velvet head), when its very soft seed-heads are present.

Nature's bounty in mellifluous Welsh

At the edge of a small loch, the reed mace (bulrushes) reveal a fresh and light leek-like centre.

WEED OUT A REAL BANQUET; IT'S GREAT OUTDOORS; More and more restaurants are using and promoting locally-foraged and fresh natural ingredients on their menus, but Mark Williams is keen to help Scottish families make the very most of nature's bounty

Conwy RSPB's young bearded tits have been a bit more showy and I was lucky enough to see them perched out in the open for 10 minutes, albeit getting blown from side to side like a metronome while sitting on the seed heads of reed mace.