Grass tree

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

grass tree
    n 1: elegant tree having either a single trunk or a branching
         trunk each with terminal clusters of long narrow leaves and
         large panicles of fragrant white, yellow or red flowers;
         New Zealand [syn: {cabbage tree}, {grass tree}, {Cordyline
         australis}]
    2: any of several Australian evergreen perennials having short
       thick woody stems crowned by a tuft of grasslike foliage and
       yielding acaroid resins [syn: {grass tree}, {Australian grass
       tree}]
    3: gaunt Tasmanian evergreen shrubby tree with slender tapering
       leaves 3 to 5 feet long [syn: {tree heath}, {grass tree},
       {Richea pandanifolia}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Grass tree \Grass" tree"\ (Bot.)
   (a) An Australian plant of the genus {Xanthorrh[oe]a}, having
       a thick trunk crowned with a dense tuft of pendulous,
       grasslike leaves, from the center of which arises a long
       stem, bearing at its summit a dense flower spike looking
       somewhat like a large cat-tail. These plants are often
       called "blackboys" from the large trunks denuded and
       blackened by fire. They yield two kinds of fragrant
       resin, called {Botany-bay gum}, and {Gum Acaroides}.
   (b) A similar Australian plant ({Kingia australis}).
       [1913 Webster]