couch grass, name for several grasses, among them quack grass.

Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur Thomas, pseud. Q, 1863-1944, English author. Among the novels of his native Cornwall are Dead Man's Rock (1887) and Hetty Wesley (1903), which are romantic in spirit yet distinguished for their clear and colorful style. He also wrote essays, lectures, and poetry and was the editor of many anthologies, including the Oxford Book of English Verse (1900) and the Oxford Book of English Prose (1923). He was knighted in 1910.

Adams, John Couch, 1819-92, English astronomer, grad. St. John's College, Cambridge, 1843. By mathematical calculation based on irregularities in the motion of Uranus, he predicted the position of the then unknown planet Neptune. Because of delay in England in making a telescopic search for the planet, the credit for the discovery went to a Frenchman, Leverrier. In 1858, Adams became professor of mathematics at St. Andrews Univ., but he soon returned to Cambridge, to occupy the Lowndean chair of astronomy and geometry until his death. From 1861 he was also director of the university observatory, preferring this post to that of astronomer royal, which was offered to him in 1881. He made valuable studies of the moon's motions, of the Leonids in the great meteor shower of 1866, and of terrestrial magnetism. His collected papers, edited by his brother, were published (1896-1900) at Cambridge.

or quack grass

Rapidly spreading grass (Agropyron repens) with flat, somewhat hairy leaves and erect flower spikes, native to Europe and introduced into other northern temperate areas for forage or erosion control. In cultivated land, it is considered a weed because of its persistence. Its long, yellowish-white rhizomes must be completely dug up to eradicate the plant because broken rhizomes generate new plants. Couch grass has been used in various home remedies in Europe, and the rhizomes have been eaten during periods of famine.

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(born Nov. 21, 1863, Bodmin, Cornwall, Eng.—died May 12, 1944, Fowey, Cornwall) English poet, novelist, and anthologist. Educated at Oxford, he worked as a journalist and editor in London before settling in his native Cornwall. He taught at Cambridge from 1912. He is noted for compiling The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1900 (1900; revised 1939) and The Oxford Book of Ballads (1910). His works, written in a clear and apparently effortless style, include many novels and short stories, verse, and criticism, including On the Art of Writing (1916) and On the Art of Reading (1920).

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