panic grass

noun

1. any of various grasses of the genus Panicum, such as millet, grown in warm and tropical regions for fodder and grain

Word History and Origins

Origin of panic grass¹

C15 panic, from Latin pānicum, probably a back formation from pānicula panicle

Example Sentences

“We’re sifting through a whole good matrix of wet prairie species here into some wetland species,” said Evan Barker, an ecologist from Wheaton, Ill. He pointed out golden rod, panic grass, milkweed and invasive phragmites.

From Wall Street Journal

Experiments on wheat produced similarly startling results: plants treated with the fungus from heat-loving panic grass could now tolerate temperatures of up to 70 °C while halving their water requirements.

From Nature

Now you wrap it in a lotus-leaf, and I will get yellow pigment and earth from a sacred spot and blades of panic grass for the happy ceremony.

From Project Gutenberg

Feed clover until it is dry, then feed vetch and then panic grass, and after the panic grass feed elm leaves.

From Project Gutenberg