| 释义 |
dog's-tail
Also dog-tail.
[a transl. of Bot.L. Cynosurus, or Gr. κυνόσουρα.]
1. (Usually dog's-tail grass.) A genus of grasses, Cynosurus, the chief species of which is Crested Dog's-tail Grass, C. cristatus, so called because the flowers in each panicle all point one way, like the hairs of a dog's tail.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Cynosurus, dog's-tail, in botany, a kind of grass. 1759B. Stillingfl. Misc. Tracts (1775) 362 I have..given English names to them of my own invention... Dog's tail grass, crested. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 208 Smooth stalked meadow-grass..and the crested dog-tail..are well adapted for dry pasture. 1806–7A. Young Agric. Essex (1813) I. 9 To harrow in grasses again in August..as crested dogstail, etc. 1961R. W. Butcher Brit. Flora II. 957 The crested dogstail..is a very common plant in grassland throughout the British Isles.
2. A translation of Gr. κυνόσουρα, name of the constellation of the Little Bear: = cynosure 1.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Dog's tail, a name for the constellation Ursa Minor or Little Bear. |