''Austrostipa elegantissima'', commonly known as tall feather-grass, is a species of grass in the family

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

. It is native to southern Australia, from Western Australia to New South Wales. It grows as a decumbent

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

in a rhizomatous tussock with widespread leaves. It lacks basal leaves. It is found in areas that are not grazed by introduced livestock, which feed on this plant. The species was first described by

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

as ''Stipa elegantissima'' in 1805 and assigned to the genus ''

Austrostipa ''Austrostipa'' is a primarily Australian genus of plants in the grass family, commonly called speargrass. The genus includes species formerly included in the genus ''Stipa.'' All known species are native to Australia, most of them found nowher ...

'' in 1996. The plant is used by

red-eared firetail The red-eared firetail (''Stagonopleura oculata''), also known as the boorin, is a small finch-like species of bird. It occurs in dense wetland vegetation of coastal to sub-coastal regions in Southwest Australia. Its appearance is considered appe ...

(''Stagonopleura oculata'') in the construction of its nests.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q22110721, from2=Q15505180 elegantissima Bunchgrasses of Australasia Flora of South Australia Angiosperms of Western Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Plants described in 1805