Yerba or Hierba
I am a Spanish teacher and I introduced song lyrics that read,
"Pinto la yerba verde como la esperanza."
I introduced the word 'yerba' to mean 'grass' but I was corrected by a student from Spain who said that it is "herb" and grass is translated as 'hierba.'
Technically, I think she might be correct but I'm thinking that the lyrics were meant to colloquially say 'grass.' I'm not sure. Can 'yerba' be used to mean 'grass?" Some Spanish-English dictionaries seem to indicate that.
So is there a difference between Spain and Latin America with this word usage? Thank you for your help. I'm confused.