spinifex

Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for spinifex.

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Editorial note

So my Tabula Rasa has given me this lesson: don't go into the spinifex to pee.

Examples11

Definitions3

Parts of speech2

Quick take

Any of numerous species of grass in genus Spinifex, growing in sand dunes.

Meaning at a glance

The clearest senses and uses of spinifex gathered in one view.

noun

Any of numerous species of grass in genus Spinifex, growing in sand dunes.

noun

(Australia) Any of several spiny grass species of the genus Triodia, endemic to arid outback Australia.

adjective

(geology, petrology, mineralogy) Composed of dendritic plates, which present as the scored texture of bundled, spine-like structures typical of komatiites.

Definitions

Core meanings and parts of speech for spinifex.

noun

Any of numerous species of grass in genus Spinifex, growing in sand dunes.

noun

(Australia) Any of several spiny grass species of the genus Triodia, endemic to arid outback Australia.

adjective

(geology, petrology, mineralogy) Composed of dendritic plates, which present as the scored texture of bundled, spine-like structures typical of komatiites.

Example sentences

So my Tabula Rasa has given me this lesson: don't go into the spinifex to pee.

I have a very distinct memory of walking out among the spinifex as a child, needing to pee.

Powder, white powder killed a lot of kangaroos [and] spinifex [grass].

The vegetation there (varieties types of spinifex, among other things) tends to have thorns that are much harder and sharper than anything in the US or Europe.

Stripping all the material world of 15 years of life in California took me just a few days, semi-naked, thirsty and hungry, walking barefoot among the spinifex and wattles.

I'm not able to identify it with that photo but Spinifex would be my first try (even better to fight against erosion and keep the soil in place).

Fires there burn with much less intensity than the fires we have been seeing in eastern Australia recently, as there is very little leaf litter and the major vegetation association that burns is spinifex grassland.

To give you an idea of how low intensity and close to the ground the spinifex fires are, you can actually jump over an advancing fire front (not recommended, but I have done it in my younger days...!).

There's a lot of flat lands with spinifex in certain areas (easily a couple of United Kingdoms in size) and even a touch of mesa won't help narrow a location down from the general are as there are many of those with identical edge profiles.

Its hot, my bare feet are burning, the ground is unforgiving and I already have spinifex'ed ankles, so naturally I tread as carefully as I can, trying to avoid the sand and the spikes, only walking on the slightly less heated organic mats that surround some of the spinifex, a kind of carpet of twigs and leaves, gathered in pockets by the wind.

Quote examples

I provide them in full, but perhaps the most frightening part is the last sentence "the current fires seem to be overwhelming these [animal responses to fire] owing to [the fires] severity and geographical extent": The abstract that you have quoted stems from work carried out in the Simpson Desert some years ago by myself and others in spinifex dominated environments.