tarweed

[ tahr-weed ]

noun

1. any of several resinous or gummy, composite plants of the genus Grindelia, having solitary flower heads.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tarweed¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; tar ¹ + weed ¹

Example Sentences

The tarweed clung to my socks, and a happy little bee hovered by my elbow.

From The New Yorker

Under the common designation of "tarweed," plants belonging to two different genera—Madia and Hemizonia—and comprising thirty or forty species, may be found.

From Project Gutenberg

Lysander, tired of waiting, came striding through the tarweed, with his hoe on his shoulder.

From Project Gutenberg

He looked down upon his clothes, stuccoed with tarweed burrs and wet mud.

From Project Gutenberg

Grasshoppers whirred everywhere; squirrels whistled; occasional little dust-devils whirled up the now thoroughly dry river-bed and the atmosphere was redolent of the aroma of dust and tarweed.

From Project Gutenberg