pyp gras, pyp grass, noun

Origin:
Afrikaans, EnglishShow more Afrikaans (earlier pijpgras), pyp pipe + gras grass, (or English grass); named for the pipe-like nature of the culms.
?obsolescent
Either of two perennial grass species, Ehrharta thunbergii or E. villosa, which grow up to one and a half metres in height. Also attributive.
1854 P.L. Simmonds in Pharmac. Jrnl XIII. 421Something must be sown with the berry [of the Myrica] to screen its shoot...Pyp grass seed should..be prepared for the purpose.
1880 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr.Of indigenous grasses which may be usefully employed to arrest drifting sands none are better than the Pyp grass.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 36Pijpgras, Ehrharta villosa.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 379Pypgras, Ehrharta gigantea..and E. villosa.
Either of two perennial grass species, Ehrharta thunbergii or E. villosa, which grow up to one and a half metres in height. Also attributive.
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18541966