Old Man's Beard (Noun)
Meaning 1
Common climber of eastern North America that sprawls over other plants and bears numerous panicles of small creamy white flowers.
Classification
Nouns denoting plants.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
Vigorous deciduous climber of Europe to Afghanistan and Lebanon having panicles of fragrant green-white flowers in summer and autumn.
Classification
Nouns denoting plants.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 3
Dense festoons of greenish-grey hairlike flexuous strands anchored to tree trunks and branches by sparse wiry roots; southeastern United States and West Indies to South America.
Classification
Nouns denoting plants.
Examples
- The old man's beard, a type of epiphytic plant, clung to the cypress tree's gnarled branches, its long strands swaying gently in the breeze.
- In the misty forests of the southeastern United States, old man's beard can be found draped over ancient tree trunks like a wispy, greenish-grey cloak.
- The park ranger pointed out the old man's beard hanging from the branches of a live oak, explaining its unique adaptations for survival in the humid climate.
- As we hiked through the West Indian forest, the old man's beard seemed to be everywhere, its wiry roots digging into the bark of tree after tree.
- In the dimly lit, tropical forest, the old man's beard took on an eerie, mystical quality, its long, flexuous strands seeming to writhe and twist like living tendrils.