Country intro
Large quaking-grass (Briza maxima)
A type of grass that produces these large clusters of seeds looking like cicadas on strings or fat bees. These ones are green but as they dry they take on a more insect-like colouring and actually rattle in the breeze. The top two segments are often much darker than the rest and give the appearance of large eyes. Leuba calls them rattle snake tails. The rest of the plant is a fairly simple grass growing to about 60cm high.
Open semi-dry areas maybe with some light shade.
Another invasive species introduced into Australia.
"Briza maxima" is a species of the grass genus "Briza". It is native to Northern Africa, the Azores, Western Asia, and Southern Europe and is cultivated or naturalised in the British Isles, Australasia, the western United States, Central and South America, and Hawaii.
