canary grass

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An annual Mediterranean grass (Phalaris canariensis) having grains used as food for caged birds, such as canaries.
2. n. Any of several related grasses, such as reed canary grass.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Phalaris Canariensis, natural order Gramineæ, a native of the Canary islands. Its seed is used as food in the Canaries, Barbary, and Italy, and is extensively cultivated elsewhere for canary-birds. The reed canary-grass, P. arundinacea, is a common species, a variegated form of which is the ribbon-grass of gardens.
2. n. The reed canary-grass (also called reed-grass) is widely diffused in wet places over the northern hemisphere. In the northwestern United States it is called crazy-grass, on account of its supposed effect on horses, which, however, is probably due to ergot with which it is infested. The Southern or American canary-grass, Phalaris Caroliniana, ranging through the Southern States to California, is regarded in the Eastern States as valuable for winter and spring pasture. This, or a form with an inflorescence appearing much like Phleum, is called Southern or Apache timothy. The blue or purple canary-grass is Phalaris amcthystina, a native Californian species of moderate value. P. minor and P. paradoxa are Mediterranean species introduced into California.

Wiktionary

1. n. Phalaris canariensis, a grass whose seeds are used as birdseed

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. a grass of the genus Phalaris (Phalaris Canariensis), producing the seed used as food for canary birds.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. Canary Islands grass; seeds used as feed for caged birds