tussock
/ˈtʌsək
/noun
A small area of grass that is thicker or longer than the grass growing around it.Between the tussocks of grass grew purple heather and tufted bog cotton, which were used in the old days for pillows and mattresses....
- He hid inside a tussock of oat grass and watched as the fine thatched house rose up beside the water-hole.
- Larks that live in desert areas will stand in the shade of grass tussocks during the hottest parts of the day.
Derivatives
tussocky
/ adjective ...- The path leads through open zones of tussocky grasses, silver birches, and woods, honeysuckle swarms up the pines.
- Allow natural colonization or seed tussocky grasses such as cocksfoot and Yorkshire fog.
- Swamp foxtail, a coarse tussocky native grass with a seed head similar to buffel grass, is the native host of this insect pest.
Origin
Mid 16th century: perhaps an alteration of dialect tusk 'tuft', of unknown origin.