Poa labillardieri, Tussock Grass

Poa labillardieri 
Tussock Grass

Though this native grass is widely used in public landscaping and roadside plantings it deserves a place in the home garden as well. It is in flower now and the shimmering gauzy flower stems look terrific, as pictured above, when moving in the breeze with a sparkling surf beach in the distance. I like to plant it around spiky Agave and Yucca plants as the fine blue grey foliage makes a good contrast to their thick broad rigid stems. Maintenance of this grass involves shearing off the old flower stems after they have dried off. New growth appears very soon after.
This species is named for Australian explorer Jacques Julien Houtou de La Billardiere

Jacques Julien Houtou de La Billardiere (1755-1834)
sketch by Julien Leopold Boilly 1821
Wellcome Library, London