ant rice en · NOUN
Etymology
So called because it grows around ant nests in Texas and has been thought to be cultivated by the ants for the sake of its seed.
Meanings
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(uncountable) Grass of species Aristida oligantha.
[…] LINCECUM HYPOTHESIS The Lincecum Hypothesis, or the ant-rice story, is a strangely romantic idea from the Civil War era that has now lost favor. This controversy revolved around the claim that harvesters not only collect seeds […].
1998, Stephen Welton Taber, The World of the Harvester Ants, page 33: