water ribbons

English

Noun

water ribbons pl (plural only)

1. (Australia) An aquatic plant, Triglochin procera, of southeastern Australia. [from 20th c.]
   • 1956, The Emu, volume 57, page 343:

     The whole marsh was densely clothed with reeds (Juncus spp.), water-ribbons, (Triglochin procera) and blown grass (Agrostis avenacea), the bed was sticky clay, and the burrows of freshwater crayfish gave each step interesting possibilities.

   • 2006, Tara June Winch, Swallow the Air, in Heiss & Minter, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 241:

     We wade through the delicate water, the moon spilling on our colourless bodies. Brolgas ruffling their wings against water ribbons, making the muddy bath flinch in coiling waves.