grass tree

English

Dracophyllum traversii

grass tree (plural grass trees)

(Australia) Any of various small trees of the family Xanthorrhoeaceae (especially of the genus Xanthorrhoea), having a thick trunk crowned with a dense tuft of pendulous, grass-like leaves. [from 18th c.]
- 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin 2003, p. 125:
  They ascended the incline of the ridge through a tract of country where prehistoric grasstrees and cycads stood in isolation among bloodwoods and stunted hickory […] .
A New Zealand shrub of the genus Dracophyllum, that grows up to 12 m high and found throughout in drier climates and at higher altitudes, with slender erect or spreading branches. Rigid, leathery grass-like leaves are usually crowded towards the tip of the branchlets. Also called spiderwood.
Dasylirion longissimum (family Asparagaceae, Mexican grass tree)
Dracophyllum (family Ericaceae), a genus of about 100 species.
Richea pandanifolia (family Ericaceae, giant grass tree).

a New Zealand shrub