bear grass

2 definitions found

bear grass - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Yucca \Yuc"ca\, n. [NL., from Yuca, its name in St. Domingo.]
     (Bot.)
     A genus of American liliaceous, sometimes arborescent, plants
     having long, pointed, and often rigid, leaves at the top of a
     more or less woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of showy
     white blossoms.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The species with more rigid leaves (as Yucca aloifolia
           , Yucca Treculiana, and Yucca baccata)
           are called Spanish bayonet, and one with softer
           leaves (Yucca filamentosa) is called bear grass,
           and Adam's needle.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Yucca moth (Zool.), a small silvery moth (Pronuba  yuccasella
        ) whose larvae feed on plants of the genus
        Yucca.
        [1913 Webster]

bear grass - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  bear grass
      n 1: yucca of southern United States having a clump of basal
           grasslike leaves and a central stalk with a terminal raceme
           of small whitish flowers [syn: bear grass, Yucca smalliana
           ]
      2: yucca of west central United States having a clump of basal
         grasslike leaves and a central stalk with a terminal raceme
         of small whitish flowers [syn: bear grass, Yucca glauca]
      3: stemless plant with tufts of grasslike leaves and erect
         panicle of minute creamy white flowers; southwestern United
         States and Mexico [syn: bear grass, Nolina microcarpa]
      4: plant of western North America having woody rhizomes and
         tufts of stiff grasslike basal leaves and spikes of creamy
         white flowers [syn: squaw grass, bear grass, Xerophyllum   tenax
         ]