tussock grass

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A tall and elegant grass, Poa flabellata (Dactylis cæspitosa), a native of the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, and southern Patagonia, delighting in boggy and peaty ground. It grows in great tufts or tussocks sometimes 5 or 6 feet in height, the long tapering leaves gracefully recurved. The plant is highly nutritious, containing a large amount of saccharine matter, and is sought after by cattle. Several attempts have been made to establish it in seaside districts in Scotland.
2. n. In Australia, a plant of the lily family, Lomandra (Xerotes) longifolia, considered the best native substitute for esparto. Though it is of taller growth in wet ground, the best quality is from dry lands. Also called mat-rush. Spons' Encyc. Manuf.
3. n. A tufted grass, Aira cæspitosa. Britten and Holland.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) Any kind of sedge (Carex) which forms dense tufts in a wet meadow or boggy place.