old man's beard

(Plants) any of various plants having a white feathery appearance, esp traveller's joy and Spanish moss

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun	1.	old man's beard - 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 black moss, long moss, Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides genus Tillandsia, Tillandsia - large genus of epiphytic or terrestrial sparse-rooting tropical plants usually forming dense clumps or pendant masses aerophyte, air plant, epiphyte, epiphytic plant - plant that derives moisture and nutrients from the air and rain; usually grows on another plant but not parasitic on it
	2.	old man's beard - vigorous deciduous climber of Europe to Afghanistan and Lebanon having panicles of fragrant green-white flowers in summer and autumn Clematis vitalba, traveler's joy, traveller's joy clematis - any of various ornamental climbing plants of the genus Clematis usually having showy flowers
	3.	old man's beard - common climber of eastern North America that sprawls over other plants and bears numerous panicles of small creamy white flowers Clematis virginiana, devil's darning needle, virgin's bower clematis - any of various ornamental climbing plants of the genus Clematis usually having showy flowers

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References in classic literature

Then the youth seized the axe, split the anvil with one blow, and in it caught the old man's beard. 'Now I have you,' said the youth.

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"Just fancy, for a minute, the old man's beard stuck on to my chin.

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Its fluffy silver seed heads give rise to its common name, old man's beard.

SHOW TRUE COLOURS; Clematis produce masses of flowers in all shapes and sizes - perfect for brightening up your garden and even making it look bigger all year round

Also known as old man's beard, this tree prefers full to partial sun and acidic soil.

With the start of spring right around the corner, we asked Doris Taylor, plant c

They gathered peric'f3n, a type of marigold that turned the woolen skeins a buttercream colour; jarilla leaves that yielded a fresh green; and tree lichen known as old man's beard that dyed wool a yellow as pale as straw.

Weavers embrace natural alternatives to toxic dyes

IAnd last weekend, in my new role as unofficial floral 'birder', I found a tiny blue plant - apparently the miniature 'sheep's bit' scabious - as well as the climber known as Old Man's Beard. It was the scent that first attracted me to it - so evocative of my childhood - but it took a while to identify it (many thanks, Facebook people) as the wild equivalent of our modern garden clematis.

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These winter seedheads give it another of its country names - old man's beard!

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We take a walk through a forest with primordial mystique that has silver ferns blanketing the floor of a beech forest -- the moist environment gives rise to emerald mosses, old man's beard and lichens.

MILFORD MAGIC

Virga is the Latin for old man's beard, and it aptly describes the shape and appearance of this upper air rain.

Understanding weather not predicting

She'd lie beside me panting, feathers covering her black muzzle like an old man's beard until the sight bothered me and I'd brush them away.

Not my babe! A scrawny, overlooked pup becomes an all-purpose retriever ... well, almost

Old man's beard lichens hang like candyfloss from their boughs.

Simien mountains the roof of Africa: Kate Eshelby went trekking in Ethiopia's picturesque Simien Mountains, and what an exhilarating experience it was!